The Princess

III

"There." Dad whispered, pointing to the top of the Grand Staircase. Petteri's dark, mahogany locks were swept to the side of his slightly tanned skin, a contrast to his usual messy look. He grinned in his slightly sarcastic way and descended the stairs with a grace that I didn't think even Mom couldn't muster. He wore a tailored charcoal grey suit and a hunter green tie that matched the hue of his irises. Petteri looked absolutely handsome today, the day of his 15th birthday and I couldn't deny it in the least. A smattering of applause erupted as he stepped down onto the marble floor of the ballroom; I guess our guests were surprised at the once runty, mischievous boy that had reappeared as a young man.

"You look very handsome, Petteri." Mom smiled, cupping his blushing cheek gently and looking to Dad.

"Of course, Petteri. You look wonderful." Dad grinned, looking a little bashful as he enveloped Petteri in a close embrace.

"Terri! Terri!" Anneli called for my brother as he crouched down to her height.

"Yes, Annie?" He answered with a smile.

"You are very big now!" She jumped into his arms, her giddiness increasingly evident as her bubbling smile got wider.

"Eady? Eikko? Kerttu? Petteri? Anneli?" We all turned to the voice, finding Grandpa Maxon and Grandma America in our stead.

"Grandpa Maxon, Grandma America!" I exclaimed, falling into their steady hands.
"Darling, we're not even 60 yet!" Grandpa Maxon joked, planting a kiss on my cheek.
"I agree. By our age, you can be calling us Uncle Maxon and Aunt America, not Grandpa and Grandma." Grandma America grinned.

"Of course." Stepping back to let them greet the rest of my family, I smiled at the sight of my maternal grandparents with their twinkling brown eyes that seemed to have a deep warmth about them and once- fabled fiery red hair that had dulled into a paler rose. As I watched my mother kissed my grandparents on their cheeks, holding them close gingerly, as if they were fragile. Of course I knew of how Grandma America had heart problems back before Mom ascended the throne, but it was almost uncanny, how delicate she thought they were. I certainly thought of the two of them as anything but fragile. They were a force when they were together, which was always present because they were never apart from each other for too long.

"So is this the new adult everybody has been clamoring to meet?" Grandma America asked, kissing Petteri profusely on both cheeks.

"I guess so." Petteri shyly said- a trait that only came out when in presence of our maternal grandparents.

"Well, your grandmother and I are honored to be in your presence, Petteri." Grandpa Maxon said, giving my little brother a bow. Petteri grinned and turned to me. I raised my eyebrow, and granted him a wink before pulling him into my arms.

"Get off me, Kerttu." He answered with a playful grin, nevertheless wrapping his arms around me.

"I love you, Petteri." I whispered as we embraced. I couldn't believe that my little brother was already 15! No matter how annoying he was, he was one of my favorite people in the world.

"I love you too, Kerttu." He replied. He pecked me on the cheek and I let go of him, knowing that he had many guests to attend to, as it was his birthday party.

"Kerttu?" I turned to my mother's familiar voice, turning away from my brother.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Will you take Anneli with you for the night?" She tentatively asked. "I mean, I know you probably wanted to dance with a few people and enjoy yourself but-"

"I'll be happy to, Mom. You know that I love spending time with Annie, so why wouldn't take advantage of this opportunity?" I interrupted, already scooping the short toddler into my arms. "See, no worries." I reassured my mother while smoothing out my little sister's dark blue dress that seemed to be the smaller version of my own sky blue one.

"Thank you so much, Kerttu! I would've let her Celia take her but Anneli insisted on attending the party as a 'grown up'. I just don't want to lose her." She gave me a slightly melancholy smile before giving me a quick kiss as she rushed off to deal with her queenly duties. I shook my head, although I understood my mother's fear. We'd almost lost Petteri when he had an asthma attack back when he was 4, and we never wanted to go through that feeling again.

"So, Annie, what would you like to do?" I set her on the marble floor, and kneeled to her level, careful to insure that she was sure footed.

"Dance!" She exclaimed almost immediately. I grinned, sweeping her into my arms once again and leading her to the ballroom floor. Time rushed past us as we danced through waltzes, tangos and everything between until the two of us were absolutely drained.

At 10:00 PM- nearly 2 hours after we'd started to dance- I led two tired princesses off the dance floor, and to our assigned but empty table. Our appetizers, main course and a few desserts lay untouched on the table. With the presence of culinary expertise in front of me, I took no time to start feeding both myself and my little sister. Before long though, little, bubbly, adorable Anneli was fast asleep in my arms; filled with gourmet food and tired of the hours we spent dancing, as per her demand of 'more!'

I looked into her sleeping face, holding her close to me as I decided to take her to her room, where she could sleep peacefully. I got up from my comfortable perch on my chair, and started on my way to our floor of en suite rooms. But in my mission to reach my sister's room, I declined to notice a man approaching me.

I heard a small intake of air as I collided into the body of a man just a few inches taller than I was.

"I apologize for knocking into you." I immediately said, glancing down at my sister to make sure she was still fast asleep. She shifted a little, but she seemed to be fine.

"Don't worry, Princess. It's my fault." He quickly countered, holding onto my shoulders.

"No, please don't apologize, I should've looked where I was going." I smiled, just as I looked up to see a pair of slightly familiar green eyes and raven hair.

Julian.