Disclaimer: Twelve chapters later and we still do not own Twilight, and we never will!

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Chapter Twelve: We Are already Married

"Oh Princess Isabella, may I just say how absolutely splendid your ball was last evening." Lady Angela commented as she sat with Princess Isabella and Miss Jessica in the Princess' receiving room.

"I must agree, it was spectacular, I imagine that everyone will be talking about it for days to come. Personally I had a marvelous time." Miss Jessica gushed.

"Thank you, I am pleased that you both found the celebration enjoyable." Princess Bella replied. "I am glad that everything went well, I must admit that I was really nervous that something might go wrong at the very last minute."

"You had nothing to worry about, everything was absolutely perfect." Said Lady Angela, "but not only was everything wonderful, but you my Princess was truly beautiful and I must say what an accomplished dancer you are."

"Thank you, Lady Angela." Bella said with a slight blush at the compliment.

The three women continued to engage in pleasant conversation as they drank tea and nibbled on biscuits.

"Do either of you happen to know where Miss Tanya is?" Bella asked when she noticed that the absent woman was not just running late but likely did not intend to show.

"I am sorry my Princess, but I have not the faintest idea where she might be." Miss Jessica said.

"Neither do I my Lady. The last time I saw her was at the ball last evening," added Lady Angela.

"Oh, well ok then," Bella replied. 'I hope you are getting rid of her right this minute Edward. He better not be bedding her.' Bella thought as she wondered why her lady-in-waiting was once again absent.

Just then there was a knock on the door followed by a guard entering the room. "My Princess you have a visitor." The guard announced after respectfully offering a bow.

"Did you get a name and reason for visit?" Bella inquired.

"Yes My Lady, it is Lord Jacob Black. He requests an audience." The guard answered.

"Oh, please send him in." Bella told the guard.

"Right away my Lady." The guard said with a bow before once again leaving the room.

Not long after the doors to Bella's receiving room were once again opened, this time admitting the handsome young lord.

"Welcome Lord Jacob." Bella greeted Jacob as he entered the room.

"Thank you for seeing me, my Princess." Jacob said as he offered a polite bow and took Bella's hand kissing the back.

"To what honor do I owe this visit?" asked the young princess.

"I told you I would pay you a visit. I am always a man of my word, so here I am paying you a visit. I hope my presence is of no incontinence to you at the moment. If so I could visit another time."

"No, not at all, your visit is very much welcomed. I was just here with my ladies." Bella assured him. "Oh, where are my manners, these are my ladies-in-waiting, Lady Angela, and Miss Jessica. Ladies this is Lord Jacob." Bella said making the introductions.

"I have actually already made the acquaintance of your ladies." Jacob said as her greeted each of the other women in the room with a kind smile and a hand shake.

"Right that makes perfect sense since you are all natives of this kingdom."

"If you are not busy at the moment I would be delighted if you would accompany on a walk in the gardens, it is a wonderful day out today and I can think of nothing better than spending it in the company of the most beautiful woman at court." Jacob requested. "Of course your ladies are welcomed to join," he added.

"There is no need for flattery Lord Jacob; I would very much enjoy a walk in the gardens. I am sure my ladies will also enjoy the fresh air." Bella replied with a warm smile.

"My Lady, I only speak the truth. If there is a more beautiful woman at court I have yet to meet her." Jacob said with a smirk as he offered his arm to the Princess to escort her.

Bella spent the next couple of hours walking / sitting in the garden in the company of Lord Jacob with her ladies-in-waiting trailing a few feet behind them. Bella found Jacob to be a fun companion, he constantly flirted with her, but it was always innocent so she was ok with it as long as he did not cross any lines with her.

Bella was sitting next to Jacob on a bench in the garden, laughing at a story he was telling her, as her ladies sat on another bench close by. She was so caught up in the story that she failed to hear the person approaching until someone stood in front of her blocking the sun from view and casting a shadow over her. Looking up she saw the handsome face of her husband, who was now glaring at the man sitting next to her.

"Prince Edward," she greeted.

"Hello, dear wife I hope I am not interrupting anything." He said never taking his eyes off Jacob.

"Not at all, I was just keeping your wife entertained, since you seem unable to do so yourself." Jacob answered.

"I am perfectly capable of entertaining my wife in ways you'll only be able to dream of." Edward growled.

"Lord Jacob was just telling me a story about when you all were growing up." Bella said as a blush spread across her face as she grasped the meaning behind her husband's words.

"Yes, well your presence is no longer needed cousin, I am sure I can regale my wife with tales of our childhood if she wishes to hear them. You may now take your leave. I am sure there are many single unsuspecting ladies at court that you can lavish your attention on. My wife is not in need of your entertainment." Edward said with tone that left no room for argument.

Jacob deciding not to cause a scene decided to just leave but not before aggravating his cousin a little. "It was fun spending the day with you my Princess; please free to call on me whenever you get bored or lonely, day or night. I will only be too pleased to occupy your time, I can definitely think of several things that we could both enjoy." Jacob said in a suggestive tone as her took Bella's hand a place a lingering kiss on the back of it before turning to Edward. "Good day my Prince," he said with a smirk and a slight bow of his head as he walked away leaving the couple.

"Was that necessary? You both acted like spoilt little boys fighting over a toy." Bella said as she looked at her husband who was now sitting next to her. They were now alone in the garden as she had sent her ladies to wait for her in her chambers. "I am not something to be won or fought over.'

"There is no competition, you are my wife and Jacob needs to learn to keep his eyes off what is not his." Edward growled. "I do not want you spending time alone with him."

"I was not alone with him; my ladies were here with us. We were only having an innocent conversation; there was really no need for you to come over her and act so possessive. I am allowed to talk to others."

"I do not trust him to be around you."

"Well you can trust me and when I took my vows I promised to forsake all others, you may not have meant it went you promised the same, but I did." She spat.

"I have done what you asked and Miss Denali will no longer be your Lady-in-waiting, I will be sure to request that mother finds a replacement for her." Edward informed her after a long pause.

"Ok" Bella said trying to act nonchalant, while on the inside she was jumping for joy, hoping this also meant that Tanya was no longer his mistress.

"Is that all you have to say?" Edward asked, hoping that she would have been happy with the news.

"Well do you expect me to congratulate you, or thank you for removing your mistress from my service?" Bella asked, managing to keep a straight emotionless face.

"She is no longer my mistress." Edward then added hoping that this would get the reaction he expected.

"She shouldn't have been in the first place. You are very much a married man, who shouldn't have been seeking out any other woman than your wife. So do not expect me to offer my gratitude for you ending your affair."

"Isabella, I was with Lady Tanya before I even knew we were to be wed." Edward tried explaining.

"That does not excuse the fact that you were still with her after our union. And not only did you continue bedding her but you completely ignored me for the most part." She said, getting angry just thinking about it.

"I know it does not excuse my actions but I was angry and I blamed you I projected that anger on you. So when Lady Tanya seduced me, I let her."

"Do not do that. Do not blame her for this, you are the heir to the English thrown, you are a very formidable man, she did not force you to lay with her. She is not the one I married; therefore she has no responsibility to me. I care not what she has done, it is your actions that have offended me, so do not expect me to thank you for ending your affair." Bella said. "And do not use your anger about our union as an excuse for your infidelity. Do you thing I was dancing and jumping for joy when I heard that I was to wed a man I had never met and not only that but to I also had to leave the only home and family I had ever known. So do not use that as an excuse, you were not an innocent or unwilling party in the affair."

"I do take responsibilities for my action." Edward said, "I do not wish to fight with you about this, it is in the past where it shall remain."

"Was she the only one?"

"Escuse me?'

"Have you been bedding anyone else, any of my other Ladies?"

"No, I have never been with either of your other ladies."

"Ok, are there any other women at court that I have not met that you have bedded since our union?" Bella asked as she looked her husband in the eyes.

"I will not lie to you, I have been with many women in my life but since our union Miss Denali is the only other woman I have bedded." Edward admitted.

"Are you in love with her?" Bella asked in a quiet voice.

"No, I do not love her. She actually meant nothing to me; she was just there and always willing. I never had to put any effort into it." Edward admitted.

"I have been here and I have been very much willing, that is after all my duty as your wife. Why was I never good enough?"

"You are good enough. Please, let's not fight about this. I wish to put it all behind us." Edward said as he took Bella's small hands into his much larger ones, looking her in the eyes, "I want us to start over."

"What?" Bella asked confused.

"I want us to make a fresh start, I have been a terrible husband and I want to make it up to you, I want us to have a better marriage, one like my parents marriage."

"I do not know if we can have a marriage like theirs. Your parents love and trust each other and I do not trust you. You have given me no reason to."

"I know that and I wish to prove to you that I can be the man you deserve." Edward said.

"Why the sudden change of heart and the need to prove yourself to me?" Bella asked, she was very happy that he seemed to want to work on their marriage, but she remained skeptical.

"Last night I spent most of the night in your company and I got to know you just a little bit and I want to know you even more. I realized that I have been selfish and unfair to you and you do not deserve to be treated the way I have been treating you. I would like to court you." Edward declared.

"We are already married."

"Yes, but I want to be more than just the man you were forced to marry. I want to be your lover and your friend. So my dear Princess Isabella will you allow me to honor of courting you and wining your heart?" Edward asked now kneeling on one knee in front of her.

"Yes!" She accepted with a smile spreading across her face.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, real life stopped by for a visit and she was being a royal bitch. I hardly had a moment to myself so I had no time to write.

I want to thank you all for reading, reviewing, adding to favorite and following this story, it means a lot to Beca and I.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I really had no idea where I was going with it. As always please drop a review and let me know what you guys thought.

-Liz