Heavy is the Head

XI

The princes filed into the castle, greeting each princess as they walked by. Fantasia recognized most of them from the party at their castle but there were one or two new faces. The last prince to walk in was Kendall, greeting every princess as normal but lingering in front of Fantasia. The sight of him made her skin crawl and she wanted nothing more than to hide behind something or someone. Taraji stood right next to her, looking as regal as ever, and you could see the weight of her gaze on Kendall as he tarried before Fantasia. He finally got some sense and moved on, Fantasia let out the breath she was holding, reaching for Taraji's hand and squeezing it.

"Attention please," Angela announced, "Ladies, let's give a warm welcome to our guests." Angela paused to let the princesses to curtsy to the princes, the gentlemen giving a bow back. "Gentleman, you were given your princess assignments by your headmistress, Dana, so if you will find your partners and head to the great hall to be seated for dinner." Fantasia waited with baited breath as she saw the princess scanning the room for their princesses. She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Kendall head for Princess Jurnee Smollett instead of her or Taraji. Jurnee, however, was not so relieved.

"Excuse me Princess Fantasia," a prince whom she had not met before greeted, "my name is Prince Marlon Wayans. I believe you're my princess for dinner and cotillion." Marlon smiled, extending his hand for Fantasia to take. She did, giving a curtsy while he bowed. To her he seemed nice, and Taraji was sporting a smile, so she decided to trust him. He held out his arm and she locked her arm with it, letting him lead her to the great hall.

Taraji knew Marlon very well, their mothers being close friends from their time at charm school. She had grown up flying with her parents back and forth from his kingdom and him frequently visiting her's with his parents. Taraji had expected to run into him at the party they went to, but wasn't fortunate. She was happy that Fantasia had been assigned to him, not having to worry that her girlfriend was in good hands. She hoped that as outgoing as Marlon was that she would be able to break her out of her shell a little more.

"Princess Taraji," a tall prince greeted.

"Boris!" Taraji was familiar with the prince, not on the level that she was with Marlon, but he was a friend of Marlon's so they crossed paths from time to time. Taraji looked up at the ceiling, thanking whatever God listening that luck was on her side. Prince Boris Kodjoe was the heartthrob of the kingdoms. Every princess, lady royal, and commoner wanted him, but he had eyes for one princess only. Princess Jurnee was promised to Boris when they were kids, and they grew up together, knowing that one day they would be married. They weren't in love but they shared a bond that made Boris respect her enough to not fool around with anyone else. Taraji had noticed the look of disappointment on Jurnee's face when Kendall had walked up to her instead.

"It's nice to see you again," Boris said, extending his arm, Taraji taking it.

"Good to see you too," Taraji responded as they walked. "How come you weren't partnered with Jurnee?"

"Headmistress thought it would be a good idea to separate us on the basis that we already knew each other too well. She figured we'd be spending the rest of our lives together, what harm would a year apart do? I'm kind of glad. It gives me a chance to socialize with someone else." Boris didn't seem too bothered with what he was saying, so Taraji shrugged it off. When they got to the table, Boris pulled out Taraji's seat, Taraji gracefully sitting and waiting for Boris to sit next to her. Boris took the seat to her left, coincidentally right next to Jurnee. Taraji signaled to him that she didn't mind at all if they talked to each other.

"Mind if we sit next to you Raji?" Taraji heard Marlon ask. She smirked, not facing him.

"I'm not sure. Depends on who's asking."