Kalia is a modern day princess. Living with her parents and three sisters in their royal kingdom in London, she had convinced them to let her go to a normal school and live a normal teenage life. And apart from the occasional ball and family dinners...
Step one of a typical marriage arrangement within the world of royalty was the most basic of the four, but could rupture the entire process if neglected with care. The theme: initial introductions.
This was where Kalia was supposed to exhibit her lovely manners and charm him with limited words - after all, what was a lady without her mystique?
In Kalia's case, this was her chance to bore the Prince to death, and ultimately, aim his attention to her sister, Ophelia, to proceed with her plan.
"Kalia, meet Prince Elec."
Kalia didn't want to be rude, but she didn't want to share his intense gaze either. She could feel his eyes on her like scolding stones, burning hot against her delicate skin.
She refrained from looking at him, very impolite and un-lady like, she decided, which was the complete opposite of how a lady should act but exactly how to disregard the very first step. But when her mother nudges her in a failed attempt to be subtle, she stumbled forward and her eyes locked with his unwillingly, her heart skipping a beat at the, indeed, grand man before her.
Light blue, lighter than a cloud. They were crystal-like, almost clear – a lustre of ethereal hue. Or were they grey? She couldn't be sure. The one thing that she was sure about was that she didn't trust the way his eyes glinted under the fluorescence as he stared down at her, his thin inky waves creating a barrier between his gleaming gaze and her inferior one - caught by surprise at such close contact. Something twinkled in them. Amusement, and something else.
He captures her petite hand in his, and pulls it to his lips, causing her to shudder. If he notices, he doesn't make it known. He was being a gentleman, but she wouldn't fall for his charm.
"Kalia," he utters, testing her name on his tongue. His voice was deep, dark and velvety, which made it all the more harder to ignore. His lips turn upward, showing off the bottomless dents on either cheek. "I've never had a princess run away from me before."
Kalia's eyes widen in shock. He'd noticed?! Her cheeks burned with evident embarrassment. This jerk, she thought. Who did he think he was? Didn't he know it was impolite to embarrass a lady, much more a princess?
Prince Elec touched her only with his eyes, watching; waiting for a reaction. She didn't dare entertain him with one.
"Elec, come on now. You've only just met the girl. Wait at least five minutes before scaring her off," Eltis reprimanded, causing Kalia's father to hoot at his remark. So much for having my back, father.
"Let us dine," her father, the King, announced, and so it be.
Elec watched her a few moments more, amusement dancing around the specks of his iris as he releases her hand seemingly reluctant. The warmth of his left hers, allowing it to drop back to her side, but his gaze still held hers. Even as she broke contact, taking Lena's nagging hand and walking her to her seat, his eyes never left hers.
Kalia felt his stare burn away any wits she had gathered in the last five minutes since meeting him, but determined as she was, she found her place on the table and sat.
After a few more mimutes of convincing herself of her hallucinations, she couldn't take it anymore. Was it even possible to hallucinate a feeling? She asked herself. Maybe, she was just being paranoid. She glanced up to make sure that she wasn't just imagining things, and find his gaze remained in tact, confirming her suspicions to be true. What the hell was going on? Couldn't he see Ophelia was right next to me? He hadn't seemed to look anywhere else, but at her, and it was confusing to her, but not as much as it was vexing.
She sat herself at her reserved spot across from him, hardly by happenstance. This was prearranged. As her parents and his spoke, Kalia tried so hard not to glare at him. The little bastard, she thought bitterly to herself. So arrogant with his stupid smirk, like he knew something she didn't, and enjoyed keeping it from her.
"Isn't that right, Kalia?" Queen Lania's voice pulls her right out of her private little hate fest.
"Hm?" There is a silence before Ophelia kicks Kalia's leg under the table, causing her to jump slightly in surprise. She rephrased her words. "Oh, sorry. I was enraptured in thought. How rude of me," she apologises to the stunning blonde woman on the other side of the table, giving silent thanks to Ophelia, even though Kalia believed she could have chosen a less violent method.
"That's quite all right dear, we have all been there," Celeste smiles. Kalia's inner people-pleasing princess breathes out a sigh of relief. "Your mother has just been telling us about how you attended regular school, rather than being home-schooled, like our Elec was. What was that like?"
Kalia was surprised at the unexpected question. She thought the King and Queen would judge her or even her parents for that uncommon decision and allowance for people like her, but Celeste's eyes were kind. "Well, it was difficult at first, because everyone knew who I was... but after a year or two, people got over the fact that I was a princess and saw me as a normal person. It wasn't too hard, though, because it was a private, all girls school, so a lot of the students were from wealthy families with a substantial standing in society. It was nice making friends with people with a similar lifestyle."
"I see," she nods. It was hard to tell where her thoughts stood after that, but Kalia noticed that Celeste and the King had raised her brow in approval at the mention of 'all girls school'. She had managed to ask her a few more questions about Kalia's interests, and soon Kalia was the main contributor at the table.
She realised she was rambling on, talking a bit more than she should have according to the rules, but following, Kalia remembered that she was supposed be breaking them. To her misfortune, the Queen seemed to be eating up every thing she said, and so did King Eltis. The eager princess in Kalia, or rather, the princess side of her, was loving how pleased they seemed with her answers, but she hadn't time to set her free, nor stray from the plot. And then it dawned on Kalia; they were already at step two.
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