Summary: Marrying for love is an uncommon practice for the royal family - Prince Christian has been betrothed to Duchess Susanna from a young age, but his feelings for her pale in comparison to what he feels for the shoemaker's daughter, Anastasia. Should he risk everything to marry a commoner, or will following his heart prove to be a big mistake? Set in 1700s, AU OOC

Ships in the Night

By Strawberry Pajamas

Chapter 1: The Prince and the Cobbler

Grey Castle had always been a sight to behold. For many generations, it had sat upon a tall hill overlooking a town, and on either side of the castle there were acres of open fields, rolling green hills and pastures, and miles of evergreen forests stretching out behind it like an expansive green haven. This particular summer, the castle looked especially beautiful, since its many turrets and towers stretching up toward the sky seemed to positively glimmer underneath the gorgeous blue sky and the warm air which smelled of honeysuckle and lilac.

Queen Grace Trevelyan Grey currently strode through the halls of Grey Castle, gazing around as if she were searching for something. She looked her usual elegant self today, with her robin's egg blue-colored gown and full petticoat, her light blonde hair pinned up in the manner which was common for respected upper class women such as herself. Although the only difference between herself and other women was the sparkling white and silver diadem perched upon her head - the very picture of queenly sophistication and class.

As usual, the spacious corridors of the castle were empty, save for the occasional servant passing by going about their duties. Grace frowned to herself as she made her way toward the north wing, fervently wishing not for the first time that this place wasn't so large.

As she turned the corner into the meeting chambers, she saw her husband the King standing in front of a large table, speaking with the head guardsman as they looked over a parchment document. King Carrick Grey always looked the part of royalty - today, he wore his fine red tailcoat and black breeches, and had many solid gold rings adorning his fingers, conveying his kingly status. He wasn't wearing most of his other usual adornments, however, since he wasn't visiting with any foreign leaders or dignitaries today.

"My King," Grace greeted her husband when she approached him. He glanced up at her.

"My Queen," he greeted her with a smile, being formal for the guardsman's sake. He turned back to him, passing over the piece of parchment. "That'll be all for now, Sir Taylor. Let me know when the tally has been completed."

"Yes, your Majesty," the man bowed his head respectfully before turning and walking away.

"What was that regarding?" Grace asked curiously. She and her husband began walking together down the hall, Carrick offering his elbow for her to hold. "Surely the guards have better things to do than keep a tally of something?"

"It's for the summer harvest. Since it is currently underway, I'm hoping to have an accurate count of all of the food grown and harvested within the next couple months," Carrick explained to her. "That way we can tell if the bounty this year is any greater than what it was last year, or the year before that. We can determine if our annual harvests are getting bigger and more plentiful as the years progress."

"I think we ought to be more satisfied if everybody will have enough to eat through the winter, my King," Grace said with a smile and an eyebrow raise.

"Very true, my Queen," Carrick chuckled as they made their way out to the courtyard. He glanced around the area. "You haven't seen Elliot around anywhere, have you? He was meant to meet with me this morning about the harvest tally."

"He and Isabel had taken their son out for a walk through the meadow this morning," Grace explained. "I had actually come to ask you if you had seen where our other son was, however. I have just received some urgent news about the Duchess that I feel he must know about."

"Wherever he is, I'm sure Amelia is right there with him," Carrick smiled, shaking his head as he thought of his two youngest children. "I still cannot believe those two are nearing adulthood - they still act like such children around one another."

"Well, little Mia is still but a girl of thirteen," Grace said fairly. "And Christian is barely eighteen years of age… he is still but a boy, in most respects."

"A boy whose mother will always see him as such," Carrick teased his wife, and Grace couldn't help but laugh. "Remember, we were not yet one and twenty when we wed."

"So we still have two years' time with our youngest son, My King, before he has become a man. I suggest we make the most of it," Grace teased right back. At that moment, they heard the familiar gleeful laughter of their grandson sound from afar, and the two of them turned to see their eldest son and his wife come walking toward them in the courtyard with their child between them. Jonathan, a boy of barely three, seemed to be having a wonderful time hanging onto his father's hand and kicking up tufts of grass as he skipped along.

"Mother - Father," Elliot greeted his parents with an amiable smile as they approached. "So sorry to have kept you waiting. Have you been here long?"

"I've been waiting all morning, Elliot," Carrick chided his son. "Where have you been? I had wanted you to sit in on a meeting with me and Sir Taylor regarding the summer harvest."

"I'm sorry, Father. Isabel and Jonathan had wanted to play out in the fields today, and I couldn't resist joining them since the weather has been so temperate. We all had a wonderful time, though - hadn't we?"

Jonathan giggled happily while Isabel, Elliot's wife, simply smiled. Isabel Almeida-Torrés Grey had been married to Elliot for over five years now. She was the daughter of a Portuguese dignitary, and she and Elliot had been betrothed to one another since they were ten, eventually marrying when they were eighteen. Isabel was a kind woman - as well as a gorgeous, olive-skinned beauty - but since English was not her mother tongue, she rarely spoke to anyone at Grey Castle except to Elliot and their son.

Jonathan now squealed with glee as a moth began fluttering around his head, and the adults couldn't help but chuckle as the boy tried ducking behind his father when it got too close.

"Elliot, have you seen your brother at all?" Grace asked her son before Carrick could continue reprimanding him.

"He and Amelia were out by the lake, but Isabel and I saw them coming back here right behind us," Elliot said, glancing over toward the trees "I think that's them over there."

Carrick and Grace looked over just in time to see their two youngest children running out of the trees toward the courtyard - little Amelia was giggling happily as her older brother, Christian, pretended to chase her, growling like a lion. With an exaggerated roar, Christian managed to capture her by grabbing her around the waist, and she laughed in delight as he picked her up, her feet dangling above the ground.

"Children!" Carrick barked at them. Christian and Amelia immediately scrambled upright and hurried toward their father, trying to convey some modicum of composure.

"Yes, Father?" Amelia asked once they were in front of him. She and Christian were still out of breath, and their faces were flushed from running around all morning.

"The two of you seem to forget that you are, in fact, royal heirs to the King," Carrick said firmly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he glared at them. "You are a prince and a princess, and you are expected to behave as such. When your mother and I call for you, we expect you to be here and available to us - not gallivanting around through the trees like some common urchins."

Christian and Amelia both mumbled their apologies, their faces cast downward, however Carrick didn't miss the smirks they both tried to hold back as they did so.

Carrick shook his head at his petulant children. He turned back toward his wife, gesturing to them. "Grace?"

"Christian, dear, I've been searching everywhere for you," Grace took a step toward her son, and Christian looked up at her. "I have just received word from Hertfordshire that Duchess Susanna will be visiting Grey Castle within the next few weeks. Once she's here, I was hoping we could begin preparations for your upcoming nuptials."

"Of course, Mother. Are you saying this to tell me to be on my best behavior when she arrives?" Christian asked innocently.

"As the future groom to a Duchess, I think that would go without question," Grace said in a stern voice. "Can I expect you to behave like the prince you are once she arrives?"

"Yes, ma'am," Christian said sincerely. Softening, Grace moved forward and cupped her son's cheek in her hand, making him look at her, and she gazed at him for a moment before smiling. She noticed every single day how Christian was growing up to be a very handsome man - with his thick mop of copper-colored hair and a strong, defined jawline, he looked just like his father.

Christian smiled back at her.

"Come, all of you," Carrick said, gesturing toward the doors leading into the castle. "It's nearly noon, and the cooks are going to be serving lunch for us in the main hall. Elliot, maybe we can go over the harvest tally over our meal."

Elliot agreed, and all the Grey children, Isabel, and Jonathan began to follow Carrick and Grace toward the castle. Christian lagged behind a bit, thinking about what his mother had said - the Duchess Susanna was going to be coming by for a visit within the next few weeks. He and the Duchess had been betrothed to each other since they were about twelve years old, despite the fact they had only met a couple of times. Since Christian knew this was the life he had always led as a part of the royal family, he wasn't really too bothered by the idea of being betrothed to her. He always knew he would eventually have to marry, and Susanna was a kind and respectable woman, and would likely make a fine wife for him like Isabel did for his brother. His life would undoubtedly be different, but if it made his family happy, who was he to disappoint them?

He felt little Amelia take his hand, and he looked over to see her smiling widely at him. Christian grinned affectionately back, and allowed her to pull him into the castle after their family.

In town, there was the usual afternoon bustle of activity amongst the folk who lived there. While the surrounding fields and farms were preparing for the summer harvest, the center of town was lively with activity. The narrow cobblestone streets were filled with horses and carriages, pedestrians walking this way and that along the sidewalks with their bags of shopping or crates of food. About a kilometer in the distance, one could see Grey Castle sitting upon the hill, very visible against the sunny horizon.

One particular carriage made its way from the main road into a smaller, less busy side street before stopping in front of an empty store. The man driving the carriage was a middle-aged gentleman, older in his years yet still seemingly strong and fit for his age. His name was Raymond Steele, and the young woman sitting beside him was his teenage daughter, Anastasia.

Though it was a warm summer's day out, Anastasia still wore a deep red traveling cloak over her dress, and she finally pulled her hood down once the carriage stopped in its tracks. Her large, piercing blue eyes gazed up at the building she and her father had stopped in front of.

"Here we are, Anastasia," Raymond said, gazing up at the building with a smile on his face. "Home sweet home."

Anastasia smiled too, still gazing up at the building that she and her father were going to be starting their new life together from.

Raymond and Anastasia exited the carriage and began gathering some of their bags and trunks before heading through the front door. The entire place was empty and rather small, but Anastasia knew it would suffice - there was a small apartment above the shop that would serve as new living quarters for her and her father, and due to their current situation, it was more than Anastasia expected.

"So what do you think?" Raymond asked, smiling happily as he gazed around the place, setting down his trunks. "A little dusting and a polish, and this place will be open for business within a few weeks' time."

"A little shoe polish, you mean?" Anastasia asked humorously, and her father laughed.

"Well, of course - we are cobblers, after all," he said humorously, and Anastasia rolled her eyes. "This will be a fine place to run our business, without a doubt. I only wish your mother could be here to share all this with us."

Anastasia's smile faded, remembering her mother Carla who she and Raymond had lost to a horrible fever last winter. "If Mother was still here, we wouldn't have moved in the first place," Anastasia said after a moment. "We chose to move here because this was her hometown growing up."

"Very true," Raymond said solemnly. "And fortunately for us, some of her family still live in town and have agreed to help us run the shoe shop. That will help with the finances, I'm sure."

Anastasia nodded. Though her father could scarcely admit it, he had almost gone bankrupt last year, unable to manage both the shoe shop and Carla's medical expenses at the same time. After the illness finally took her, Ray tried desperately to maintain the shop so he could keep food on the table for himself and Anastasia, but they ended up having to move away where the housing was more affordable and their family could help support them.

"We'll be alright, my dear," Raymond said to his daughter fondly, walking over to her and holding out both his hands. Anastasia took them in her own, looking up into her father's warm green eyes and smiling. "We'll be able to manage, and hopefully business will be good enough where I can hire on an apprentice and you won't have to do any of the labor."

"I don't mind helping with the work, Father," Anastasia said honestly. "If it is the best way to keep food on the table, then there's no reason why I shouldn't help you in the shop as much as I can."

"Aye, but a young lady such as yourself shouldn't have to do manual labor," Ray said just as seriously, and Anastasia couldn't help but smile. "You ought to be like all the other ladies your age - meet a young man to woo your swooning heart and marry him so you can have children of your own."

Anastasia couldn't help but laugh. "Father, I have plenty of time before I ought to be wed - don't you worry about that. And it's not as if I know any of the other men in this town except for you and Uncle Alistair."

"Well, you never know - perhaps I will make a few business acquaintances in town and find a gentleman who is suitable for my little girl," Raymond said, squeezing Anastasia's hands before letting go. "Come, let us unpack the rest of our things from the carriage, and hopefully we'll have everything set up before sundown."

Anastasia agreed, following her father back outside to help him unload the carriage. The truth was that she had been thinking a lot lately about who she would eventually marry. Since Carla had passed away, Anastasia knew that an advantageous marriage to a well-to-do businessman could greatly help her father out and give him a well-deserved respite regarding his financial situation. While a large part of her would prefer to marry for love, realistically she knew that rarely happened. She loved her father dearly, and nothing would make her happier than to ease his burden, if just a little.

Anastasia sighed to herself as she helped her father carry all their things into their new home, wondering not for the first time what this new life of theirs would entail.

A/N: So… I know this is a bit different than what I normally write, but since I've loved reading Jane Austen books since I was like 13, I thought I'd take a stab at a little period romance for CG and Ana. (Rest assured, this story will have some more explicit themes in it than what you'd read in a Jane Austen book lol)

Do you like this type of story? Do you not? Let me know and leave a review :)

I also have a new Pinterest board for this fic! You can follow it at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/ships-in-the-night/