AN: I do not own anything in the Fairy Tale Universe. The plot is my own, but that is all. I also do not own the art. I would site it, but I found it on GOOGLE. :) I thought it went well.

Summary: When there was Royal fame there came royal responsibilities. Responsibilities that requires sacrifice and sometimes pain. Sometimes though those responsibilities turned into passion, into love. Follow Princess Heartfilia and Prince Dragneel through their adventure of surprise and spontaneity.

AN: This is an alternate universe fic where their wont be magic and some people don't know each other or aren't related. (i.e Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane). It is going to mainly be rated M because of language in the beginning, but there will be more lemon once the story picks up momentum.

For those of you who messaged me and started to follow me after my last story, I want to thank you. I am not going to lie I forgot that I had put a preview to the newest story that I wanted to write in Iron in the Stars and sort of shrugged it off. It was someone who recently messaged me that put my ass in gear and because work is super slow so what the hell. I will do another chaptered story. Not too sure how long it will be, but I will promise at least one chapter per week and that I will finish this.

Prior Engagement

Chapter 1: What is Expected of you

"Do you really think this is a good idea? He is going to be fucking pissed when he wakes up." Gray laughed silently walking as quietly as he could into Natsu's bedchambers. Sting fought his laughter knowing he would wake the sleeping prince if he were too loud. "I don't think I can be quiet. I think I'll have to wait in the hall." Sting was never one for stealth unless he was in a fight.

"I need your help with this. You know his routines as well as I do. The first thing he is going to want to do when he gets up is make his way to the bathroom for a piss. We need to make it so when he gets up he has one hell of a surprise. I hope it goes so far that he doesn't make it in time and pisses himself. If he doesn't I am going to feel like we failed." Gray whispered harshly at him knowing he couldn't back out. This little trick had to be intricate. "Besides, we brought the wheel cart with us to make it faster." That was a relief actually. There would be no way that they would be able to put all of the cups and the bucket of flour in the room otherwise.

As soon as they made their way into the bathroom they unloaded the large bucket of flour on top of the door balancing it perfectly so it would stay still until the door was pushed frantically open. "Make yourself useful and start putting these cups on the right side of the room making your way to the bathroom door. I will then help you to the bedroom door. I need to secure this so it falls in the right direction." Sting started to laugh noisily and Gray put his hand over his mouth to keep him from being too loud. "Shh dumbass!" Sting gave him a dirty look, but started to do what he was told anyway.

"Yeah yeah, I understand." Gray watched him as he moved to the right side of the room, placing cup after cup on the floor slowly filling them half way with water. "This is going to take so much time! He is going to wake up well before we are done. Stop dicking around with that damn bucket and help me out you lazy ass!" He continued doing what he was instructed, but he kept looking at Natsu to make sure he wasn't waking up. They would be dead if the Prince woke up before they were finished. They might be his guard, but that didn't mean that he wasn't well trained in a fight.

"Oh stop worrying so much. He is a heavy sleeper; he's not going to wake up until we forcefully wake him. Just do what you were told. I will help you as soon as I know this is going to work in here. It'll only be a moment more. I'm finishing it right now." Once he was done talking he made a victorious sound quietly before walking over to Sting. "Okay lets get this done so we can wake him." They silently created an arrangement that worked well together. Sting would put the cups down and Gray would put water and some soap in it. Once they finally made their way to the door they gave each other looks of exhilaration. They looked over the room pleased with their work of art. Natsu's bed was in the center of the room and all around his bed was cups half filled with water and soap. When he woke up and went to get out of bed he would be surrounded by little traps.

"You never did tell me how you were going to wake him." Sting looked over at Gray knowing he had more planned to this prank. Grays smile widened as he grabbed his bag from the bottom tray of the cart that was now pushed outside of the room. Gray was usually the one that woke the sleeping prince, but today would be special. Today was the day that he would finally win their on-going prank war. It started back when they were kids in the castle walls. Gray's dad was head of the army at the time and Natsu took a liking to the small boy that was always hiding away. Gray wasn't allowed to be around for the army and guard training sessions and he wasn't suppose to be too close to the royal family because he didn't hold high enough status so he would hide and stay out of the way. Fortunately for Gray, Natsu didn't follow the rules and decided to be his friend. They've been pretty inseparable ever since.

He thought back to their first prank. The first day he met his best friend. He was hiding in the foyer tucked behind a chair next to a plant so no one would notice him, but Natsu did. He was walking with his mother and their guard. "Mama, I think the plant needs to be outside." Child Natsu looked him dead in the eyes after turning away from his mother. When his mother looked towards the plant and her eyes fell on the small child she knew what her son was doing. He was trying to get the boy to come out and play. "Mama, don't you think that the plant is far too skinny for it's own good. I think we need to feed it."

His mother smiled at him. His kindness was not lost to her. "Well, I think you are right. Why don't you run and get something to feed the handsome little plant. I will stay here and wait for you." Natsu's smile nearly split his face and he ran from the room. He was only gone for a moment and Gray was so nervous to see what he would bring him. He was hungry after all. Usually he would not eat all day when he hid like this. "Natsu!" His mother's shocked and angry tone didn't register in Gray's ears as Natsu ran over to Gray and shoved mud in his face. Gray was furious and swore that he hated the prince. The declaration made the prince sad and he apologized repeatedly saying that he thought it would be funny and he just wanted to make a friend to play with that was his age and not a guard. Of course Gray accepted his apology after all he knew he was going to be in the castle quite a lot with his father's position and would love to be friends with everyone there. Like the prince, he had no friends either.

Gray smiled at the memory and looked over at Sting. "I brought some water balloons. I kept them in the bag because I wanted the water in them to stay nice and warm. That will help make him need to piss." His memories cleared his mind as he started to pull them out of the bag and started to hand a few to Sting. "You ready?" Sting nodded his head and the fun began.

"Time to get up Natsu!" He screamed loudly and threw a water balloon right in his face. As soon as it smacked him on the forehead it exploded and got everything soaking wet. Natsu's eyes shot open as if he was under attack, which he was and he jumped out of his bed and landed on the floor before thinking about his actions or being aware of his surroundings. His feet landed on the plastic cups full of soapy water mixture and he fell on his ass.

"What the fuck!" He finally looked over his surroundings and his face went red. Before he could say anything about his situation another water balloon smacked him in the head. "Gray! Sting! I am going to kill you." He went to stand up, again getting pelted with a water balloon, and lost his baring a second time on another set of cups. "What the hell are in these cups? It can't just be water; it's slippery as hell. Come on guys I gotta pee!" They both laughed at him as he continued falling his way to the bathroom. "I. Hate. You. Two." He finally made it to his bathroom door and pushed it all the way open when the large red bucket of flour fell from it and covered his whole body and the floor with it's white substance. "Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with you? It is going to take me so long to wash this off."

At this point he didn't think he could get any more upset. That was until a water balloon smacked the back of his head. Whirling around he let out a growl and went to attack without thinking. He jumped up and went to run to his bedroom door to beat the two to a bloody pulp, but just landed face down on the wooden surface under his feet. Sting and Gray were panting on the hallway floor, their faces bright red with tears rolling down from laughter. This worked much better than expected and they couldn't contain their composures.

"What's so funny this morning gentleman?" Her voice made their backs rigid and the hair on their bodies stand on edge. There was only one person that could put any one of them in their place and that was the great Titania. She stopped right behind them and stared down at them waiting for them to stand and address her with the respect and honor she deserved. After all she was the Grandmaster. She ruled over them and trained Natsu herself in battle. She looked over them into the room and her face hid her smirk and quiet laughter. She found it funny all right, but for reasons the men didn't understand. "I'm glad that you like to play together. Seeing as you did this together you can clean it up together. Natsu get ready and meet me outside near the training grounds. They will stay behind and make sure this place looks better than when you went to bed. Wont you boys?"

"Yes Ma'am." She walked away and Natsu smirked at them.

"Serves you right dickheads. I will get you back as well I hope you know." The men grumbled in protests as Natsu went back to his bathroom and closed the door to make himself presentable for the day.

"Good morning Erza." Natsu said as he walked over to her with a large smile on his face. They may have pranked him, but over all he won. They were going to be cleaning that mess for a while. He even made sure to knock some of the picked up cups down off the cart on the way out. Even though he kept walking away he could hear Gray swear at him because of it. Honestly, his prank was very well put together. He had to give him that, but that was way too much prep time and clean up time. He basically just gave himself far too much work.

"Good morning Prince. I thought that we would practice with swords today." Natsu groaned as she polished her sword. He was more of a hands on fighter and hated to use weapons. They just didn't work with him. "You will be just fine. Don't whine. You are a proud man and eventually you will be a King. So act like it." She never shied from putting him in my place like a lot of the castle staff did. That was one of the things he loved most about her. Well, that and that she was completely fearless. She's easily taken on twenty men in battle and won. He was a witness to it so he knew with fact that her legends were genuine. She was a pure beast. "Ready?" He sighed, but agreed to the practice.

"Let me grab my sword." Looking over her long sword he decided to use the same weapon. He pulled it off of the wall and yielded it in front of himself ready for her to advance. She always swung first. It was the confidence in her that always allowed her to remain calm, focused, and win every time. Overall, Natsu has never won a fight against her and he was glad he never would have to truly fight her. Her sword connected with his with one swing and he felt his feet slide back against the dirt.

"Focus!" Her words were sharp and he had to pay attention to not get himself stabbed in their practice session. He swung the second time and she easily blocked him. They started a dance of swords allowing sparks and sounds surround them in the heat of battle. Her strength surpassed his and one of her hard strikes pushed the sword away from his body into a tree. The bark flew from the deep cut is subjected the tree to and he had to do a barrel roll to dodge her sword from coming down on him. He never feared his life with her practices, but damn if she wasn't well tutored in the art of battle and war. He ran over to the tree repeatedly dodging every strike of her blade and slide on his knees in the grass, staining his clothes, to rip the sword from the tree. He raised the sword above his head in time to forcefully block her sword swinging down and allowed his knees to carry the weight of the sword as he pushed his body further up.

The Prince was a better fighter than a swordsman and knew that if he wanted to win against her he would have to get that sword out of her hand. He twirled his body on the ground and kicked his leg out as he swung his sword at her face. He knew that she would block and unknowingly get knocked on her ass. He was so excited that he might win this time against her. The guys would never believe him! As his leg swung closer to her body he watched as she ducked her head and bypassed his sword and swing it at his neck forcing him to fall backwards and miss her legs as he fell straight on his ass. She straddled his hips and put her sword against his neck. Damnit!

"That was clever Prince. Some people would have fallen for that and you would have had a chance. Unfortunately, I am not some people. I was born for the life of battle and can suspect every chance of attack. You did well." She got off of him and he was livid with himself. This has been such a horrible day and it wasn't even ten yet. "Why don't you go on up for some breakfast. You must be famished."

"Yes ma'am." He bowed to show respect in battle and she repeated the action. However, her head stayed bowed as he raised his and walked about.

"Natsu?" He turned around to see her concerned face. "If you need to talk later or need another go at a fight please don't hesitate to call on me. I hope you understand that I am here for you." His smile made his eyes wrinkle and as he moved closer to her as she tensed. That didn't matter to him though, he knew that even though she was a warrior she still craved love and family and she was easily his family. His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you Erza. Do you know what father wishes to discuss with me? He even shortened my tutoring session today so it must be important." She grimaced at his question. She knew all right, but she couldn't tell him. He wouldn't like the news.

"I believe that is a discussion between the Prince and the King, Natsu." He frowned at her response, but understood it was official royal business. He nodded and walked away to have breakfast with the rest of his guard. His thoughts ran away from him as he walked to the kitchens. He hated to sit in the formal dining room and his guard knew this. They've been with him for as long as he could remember so they were the only friends he had. He sighed stressing over the day. The conversation with his father was not one he was looking forward to. His whole guard has been acting secretive with him and tense.

"It's about time you showed up, did Titania kick your ass so hard you forgot what time breakfast was?" Gajeel smirked.

"That's not very nice Gajeel, Erza is far to respectful to be the reason he is late, he was probably dicking around this morning before their practice." Rogue smiled over to Natsu innocently, but Gajeel boomed out laughter.

"Fuck you guys, it's been a horrible morning. Gray and Sting decided to play a prank on me this morning and it slowed my whole day down." He scowled as he grabbed his plate of food and started shoveling it in his wide mouth.

"No way, they actually did it?" Gajeel's shocked face looked over to the Prince. "Where are they now? Did you murder them or something, I haven't seen them either?"

"I wish I did, but no. Erza found them before I could and made them clean it. Idiots are probably up there doing damage control." Everyone in the room laughed at their misfortune.

"Serves them right, I told them it was a stupid idea anyway." Rogue pushed himself off his chair and grabbed his notebook. "Alright your Majesty, you have History, Math, and English today. I will be escorting you to your tutoring. Are you ready?" After grumbling he got up and followed Rogue out the door.

"Good morning Gildarts." Rogue was always too polite for his own good. He was easily the most polite one in the group.

"Good morning gentleman. Late again hauh, what trouble did you get into this time Natsu?" Gildarts watched them as they sat down. He noticed that Natsu was distracted. He must have known that his conversation wasn't one he was going to be tolerable to.

"It wasn't my fault, I swear, I'm sorry for being late. Gray and Sting decided to play prank wars with me this morning as a wake up call. It pushed my schedule back a little. If you need someone to hit over the head, they can be found cleaning up my bed chambers." Gildarts chuckled.

"You boys are insane." He grabbed a chair and pushed it to the table in front of Natsu and Rogue. "I'll leave it in your hands buddy, what do you want to go over first?"

"Which is the hardest? I could use a nap." Before his sentence was even finished Gildart's book struck Natsu's head.

"Don't be an ass. Let's do History first. We will go over the battle of Drazonia and Celeste." Gildarts knew that bringing up a battle, even if it was a hundred years ago, would excite the Prince. He knew that this was a battle he knew about well enough seeing as he was a crown Prince of Drazonia.

"Can you tell me how it started?" The answer, however, he knew he was going to get from the prince was the constructed story by king's past, but no one knew if it held any merit because the Kings of Celeste stated the same story in reverse.

"Infidelity. The King fell in love with the princess in Celeste and decided that he would remarry after his wife passed away. However the Princess was unfaithful with another. This caused rift between the two close kingdoms and tension rose pushing the limits and becoming a fight that tore both kingdoms apart, even today."

"You are correct, however, there is no evidence to show this is accurate. I personally think there was more to the story." Natsu's attitude greatly increased as Gildarts took his mind off of the talk and onto his studies. The rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch.

"You must be going now kid, the King will be expecting you any moment." He gathered the books as Natsu got up.

"Thank you Gildarts, I will see you tomorrow. Please enjoy the rest of your day and let Cana know I said hello." He didn't wait for a response and he ran to his father's office.

As he knocked he thought about the one thing he was dreading. He was sure he knew what this talk was about. His older brother had it as well. He was seventeen, soon to be eighteen. He was coming of age to find a wife. His brother knew whom he wanted to be with since he was young so their wedding was a breeze. On the other hand, Natsu was the younger son, so he was sheltered in the kingdom. He never loved another. The closest to love he had to the opposite sex was to Erza, who was his closest female friend. She was a sister to him though.

"Natsu, finally, how was your tutoring son?" His father hugged him at the door and pulled him in pushing him into the chair in front of the large desk.

"It went very well, father. What did you wish to see me about? Could it not wait until supper tonight with the rest of the family?" His father frowned.

"Natsu, you know as well as I that you're birthday is in a few short months. I know you know what that implies. It is governed by the rules of royalty that you are to be wed while you are the age of eighteen. We have a little more than a year to wed you." Natsu frowned. He was correct in his assumption.

"Father, does that mean I can search for love?" His father sat down on the corner of the desk fiddling with a pen.

"Actually, I spoke to an old friend, his eldest daughter is turning eighteen in the summer so I figured we would have a summer wedding. He needs a strong Prince to take her hand in marriage because he has no sons. You fit all his needs." His face paled. An arranged marriage? He didn't want that.

"Father, I don't want that. I want to find someone to spend my life with." He went to get up, but his father grabbed his shoulders pushing him back down.

"Natsu, listen. This isn't a discussion that we are debating over. This is great for our kingdoms. Both of my sons being kings to separate kingdoms is a wish come true. His daughter is gorgeous, well educated, and well liked. Plus you get along with everyone so I have absolutely no doubt this will not work out. You will make this work Natsu."

"Father, I will not be going through with this!" He's never raised his voice at his father, but this was too much. He didn't want to marry another without love. "This isn't fair and I will not be doing it. I will marry for love and only love."

"This is not up to you. You will love her and you will bridge their kingdom to ours. There is a lot at stake for this wedding. Stop being so dramatic son. You have plenty of time. I've talked to her father and you guys will be meeting in October after he is back from traveling." October? It was the end of March.

His father sighed and walked over to the window. "This is what is expected of you son, this discussion is over." Natsu didn't even have anything else to say. He was furious. He never thought that this would actually happen to him. He knew his father would force him to marry, but he had believed that it would be to a woman of his choice. He walked out of the room closing the door behind him. He paused for a moment to take a deep breathe before running to the stables.

"Woah, crazy, what are you doing?" Cana took care of the horses. She was born within the castle and once she was of age she started to work in the stables with the horses she loved. Her father was Gildarts, Natsu's personal tutor and a second father figure, not to mention a personal friend of the king and had some great hookups to make sure this happened.

"Cana, I need to get out of here. Can you grab my horse please?" Cana looked at him skeptically for a moment.

"What's wrong hun, you're never like this. You know I can't let you go anywhere without at least one member of your guard." He growled annoyed at his life in the current moment.

"They will be here in a moment I am just ahead of them, I won't leave without them." She didn't buy it, but she helped him get his horse anyway.

"Please don't do anything stupid Natsu. Don't you dare leave the castle!" He nodded knowing full well that he was lying. He had to leave, just to get away for a moment to think without everyone around him. He was actually surprised that anyone in his guard hadn't found him already. "Don't be gone too long."

As soon as he was on the horse he made his way south following the path he's taken a million times with his guard. It was the only path he knew he wouldn't get lost on when he turned back. He rode off as far and as fast as he could for as long as he could. Time escaped him and he allowed his mind to completely clear.

"Natsu, fuck, slow down!" Gray was catching up to him. Shocker. He was always near him some way or some how. "I let you go this far, but we need to get back before it get's dark." It was against his best judgment, but he slowed down to allow Gray to be right next to him.

"Where is everyone else?" Their horses trotted down the trail slowly at this point.

"Their horses aren't as fast as yours and mine, they are probably about twenty minutes behind us. You realize you left the path, correct? You aren't in the protection of your kingdom anymore." He smiled at Natsu, not to scold him, but to try to make him smile.

"Thank you for letting me, I suppose. How long were you been riding behind me?" Gray frowned at him.

"You really didn't know I was behind you? You need to be more aware of your surroundings. We know you better than you think, we knew you were going to want to run so we were already on our horses before you got to the stables. Do you really think Cana would have just given you the horse without us? She is pissed at you by the way. She said you owe her some high class whiskey for you lying to her." Natsu chuckled knowing full well that he was telling the truth.

"So you already knew?" Gray frowned and nodded.

"It's not that bad Natsu, we will go with you." He was going to continue until an arrow made it's way into Natsu's left shoulder.

"Fuck!" Natsu yelled as he fell off his horse. As soon as he landed on his back the impact forced the air out of his lungs and he coughed to get his breathe back. He looked around trying to find where the arrow came from and found a group of bandits making their way over to them. Gray was already off of his horse and in a battle stance. They were easily out numbered.

"Now now boys, just empty your pockets and we won't kill you." The large man jumped off of his horse and walked over. The other men that were with him circled them.

"Go fuck yourself, I'm not giving you anything." Gray's face paled. This was not a time for Natsu to act like a tough shit. They both drew their swords ready for a fight. Instead the man laughed at them.

"Alright, I'll kick your ass then." Natsu and Gray were back to back as the men jumped off their horses and came in closer.

"This doesn't look good Natsu." They swung their swords at their opponents, but there were just too many. While they blocked one hit the other men pushed the swords out of their hands. They were both knocked out within moments.

"Natsu! Gray!" Erza was the one who noticed them in the bushes. "Damn, wake them with some water."

"Not again!" Natsu jumped up as the water hit him and then groaned. He grabbed at his shoulder knowing full well there was still an arrow in it.

"Relax Natsu, we need to find somewhere with medical equipment before we pull that out. Gray what happened?" He looked down knowing he couldn't protect his best friend.

"We were ambushed on the trail, they didn't know who he was, and they were just out for money." She nodded.

"Well that's good, it's almost dark and he shouldn't travel so far back with that wound let's finds some shelter."

**AN**I am working on CH 2 as we speak. It will be up by Christmas, if not sooner. I hope you enjoyed it, if you did or didn't let me know what you thought. I love to hear from you all. 3