Battle For the Crown

four

Jaque led me into the biggest room I had seen so far, it seemed to go on forever, the ceilings covered in glass, allowing the stars to mingle with the white strings of lights draped across the ceiling, lighting the floor softly. To the left of the staircase we stood on sat a stage, the background draped in white fabrics, allowing the band to stand out, their brass and dark wood instruments screaming out against the plain colour. Men and women were scattered throughout the ballroom, some with wide silver trays holding flutes of bubbling champagne, others piled high with treats of every assortment.
I felt Jaque slip his hand out of my own, setting it into a gloved hand which I traced back to a man in a dark suit, his thick black moustache waxed into tiny curls at the sides, he smiled, greeting me before suddenly booming,"Lady Allyson." without so much as a warning, the crowd of people all turned their attention up to where I was standing and I felt my face heat up as I looked back at Jaque nervously, he gave me a reassuring smile, gesturing towards the crowd which had now gathered at the end of the marble staircase, I tipped my chin up slightly, hoping that nobody could hear my heartbeat given how loud it was pounding in my ears they surely would be able to if the music stayed quiet throughout the evening.
I smiled towards the people and began to descend the staircase, my fingers nimbly sliding down the golden railing," the one in the black is the prince." the man with the moustache whispered before I was out of earshot, I nodded, thanking him.
Every man in the ballroom had a mask plastered across their face, some fit flush to their cheekbones and tight to their jawline whilst others hung loosely by stretch cord wrapped around the back of their head. I finally had made it past the curve in the staircase and the crowd at the bottom of the staircase all stood with extended arms, I nodded graciously at the others but intertwined my arm with the man in black, who I could only hope was really the prince.
He wore a gold mask, which must have been made specifically for his face as it wrapped flush around his high cheekbones and had a  swooping pattern painted around his eyes to enhance their natural shape. Smoothly, he led me over to the middle of the ballroom, the band began to play a different song than before, this one was slower and had a lot more violin than the previous piano heavy tune. His waist bent as he bowed deeply, catching me off guard, I tried my best to wipe the panic off of my face as I curtseyed softly, allowing him to wrap his hand tightly around mine, it was much bigger than my own, which he seemed to take notice of, engulfing my fingers in his own whilst smiling down at them, his other hand snaked around my waist, pulling me close to his body,"I'm assuming you know how to waltz." He chuckled, his voice was deep and raspy which sent shivers down my spine,"indeed I do." I laughed as he began to lead me around the floor, weaving in and out of other pairs,"you look wonderful tonight." He gushed as a lock of his black hair slipped down in front of his eyes from looking down at me,"you're looking pretty dapper there too." I smiled up at him and he tightened his grip on my waist, pulling me a bit closer,"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'm the prince." He whispered against my neck, he had to bend down a bit because of the height difference,"the announcer guy already told me." I blushed, slightly embarrassed and he laughed, pushing my chin up to look in his soft green eyes, they shone in the light of the evening, glinting every time he turned his head ever so slightly, they were breathtaking. Suddenly, I noticed that he was staring rather contently back into my own eyes, a twinkle glinting around the side of his pupil,"have all the other girls arrived?" I asked him quickly to prevent myself from doing something rash, he chuckled as he told me,"yes, they were all here a good ten minutes before you love, but as I've heard, you've been late to everything." I flushed a deep cherry red and looked into his eyes,"who told you that?" I asked timidly and he shook his head,"Chantel, when we danced earlier." He gently rolled his eyes, allowing a half hearted chuckle to fall off of his lips,"what's wrong with her?" I asked although I had a pretty good idea already,"if you really need to ask, I suggest you go over there and talk to her yourself." He teased,"speaking of which, I'm really glad we got the chance to finally meet, and the jewelry looks spectacular on you, but I really do have to dance with some of the other girls before the night ends." I nodded, a little disappointed,"but come up to the room with the golden lion on the door after the ball and we can get to know each other a little better." He smirked before slinking off to the other girl's who sat at the table looking longingly in our direction.
I followed his path and took a seat at the lonely hearts club table, they all sat visiting as I pulled up a chair,"it's about time!" Samantha joked as I sat next to her, I raised my eyebrows as if to ask the question,"he danced with you for so much longer than any of us." The girl with the tooth gap informed me as she shook my hand,"so great to finally meet you, I'm Penelope." Her accent was from down south, all of the girls followed her lead, a dirty blonde smiled at me,"Hey, I'm Sophia, I grew up in Vancouver." She told me and I smiled," are we the only Canadians?" I asked scanning the table before Chantel spoke up,"no you two aren't the only Canadians." All the other girls gave her a look,"yes they are." A brunette named Mia reminded her which sent Chantel into a fit of rage, she threw her glass on the floor and marched up to the line of the 14 guards, stopping dead in front of Jaque and sending me a wicked grin, she took him by the tie and pulled him onto the dance floor, he uncomfortably took her waist and she began to lead him around the floor, I tried to ignore them but it got to me more than it should have,"girl, it's okay." The tallest girl spoke, her dark skin stood out against the vibrant yellow of her dress,"no it's not. But I can't just go butt in and save Jaque, that's rude." I complained and all of the girls laughed,"well he's been looking over at you like a lost puppy the entire night, when you and the prince were dancing he looked like he was about to wring his neck." The girl in the yellow, who finally told me that her name was Alex informed me,"if you and the prince don't work out, it looks like you have a hunky guard to get with." Mia laughed and I felt a hand slip onto my bare shoulder,"I'm not in the mood for dancing." I began as I spun around to face whoever had set their hand on me,"that's too bad, I was really looking forward to dancing with you." I noticed that the table all had wide eyes and open mouths and I continued to turn around, scared to see who it was,"it's nice to meet you Allyson, as well as all of you girls." He nodded his head and the shining golden crown on his head caught the light, I thought I was going to throw up,"your majesty, I'm so sorry." I exclaimed, falling off of my chair and into a deep curtsey," please, my dear, call me Collin senior." I smiled up at him as we walked to the dance floor, I made a nervous face back towards the table and they all gave me thumbs up for support.
"My son has taken quite a liking to you, he's talked non-stop about how wonderful you were, I figured I'd better make sure that you were worth his time." He spoke harshly as I swallowed the lump in my throat,"I hope you can find me worthy, your son seems like a wonderful man." He laughed,"he most certainly does." Collin senior twirled me in a dizzying circle before pulling me back to our talking distance,"have you met my other son?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of one of the tables,"he's the one in the blue, that's his mother and my wife in the purple." I smiled up at him,"she's so beautiful." He nodded gently, a smile stretched across his cheeks,"it seems like only yesterday she and I were dancing at this ball."
We danced for a long time, the king asked me questions about everything a father watching out for his son should until his eyes fell on the wall clock,"well my dear, this has been lovely, and I'm so glad I got to know you a little better, but I really must go dance with my wife." I nodded graciously and began to walk back over to the table of girls, taking a seat next to Alex,"holy crab cakes!" Samantha breathed and I nodded, taking a deep breath,"he just wanted to get to know me I guess." All of the other girls returned to their conversation and I looked back up at the dance floor, Jaque was struggling to get away from Chantel still, he was trying to shrug her off of him but she kept reattaching him to her, he glanced over at me and mouthed,"help me." I smiled and shrugged, glancing back out over the sea of people. The other prince, who I assumed must be Collin Junior had began dancing with Mia, the two were chatting merrily as he swayed her around the edge of the floor to make conversation easier.
"I think I'm gonna head up to bed, goodnight guys." Penelope yawned, standing up from her seat and walking up the stairs towards her guard who gave her a warm smile. Her guard seemed to be much older than Jaque, his hair was almost completely grey and his uniform was weighed down by at least thirty more medals, he made small conversation with Penelope as they walked out of the ballroom,"I'm gonna go see if I can wrestle Jaque away from Chantel for a dance." I decided suddenly, pushing myself up from the table and walking slowly over to the pair.
"Mind if I cut in?" I asked quietly, only for the pair to hear,"yes, we do." Chantel huffed but Jaque quickly untangled himself from her and clung onto me, mouthing a "thank you." Before beginning to dance with me. His hand was snaked lazily around my waist, resting on the small of my back,"how was your evening?" I asked him, I laughed when he chose to only roll his eyes in response,"I've been wanting to dance with you all night." He told me, getting annoyed,"but whatever, now we're dancing. How was the prince? How was the king?" He asked all at once and I shrugged,"the night was nice, most of the girls are lovely, the prince was really nice and invited me up to his room after the ball, and the king just wanted to get to know me." I told him and his grip on me tightened as I told him about the prince,"you shouldn't go up to his room." Jaque hurriedly muttered into my ear, I shrugged,"I was going to." He shook his head and ignored my comment.
"so Jaque, I have a sort of stupid question." I began and he smiled,"those are my favourite kind!" He joked, reassuring me,"uhm, aren't there supposed to be cameras?" I asked him and he chuckled,"they're hidden cameras, you know, to make it more real." He told me and gestured to the places he knew the cameras were, there was one in every bouquet of flowers as well as in the lights,"there are more, but I don't know where they are." He told me and I nodded, smiling.
We continued dancing for the rest of the song but eventually I yawned softly and he smiled,"I think we'd best be getting you to bed Al." I yawned again and allowed him to take my arm as we walked up the staircase,"need a lift?" He asked as I stopped to take my heels off, I nodded sleepily and held my arms up, he scooped me into him bridal style and we walked down the hall to my room,"do you still want to go to the prince's? I can take you." He told me but I shook my head,"I'm too tired tonight, thank you though Jaque." He nodded and made sure I got in safely,"lock the door before you get ready for bed." He told me as he shut the door, he walked into his own room and closed the door quietly. I shrugged and locked the door, walking into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, I washed all of Desiree's beautiful makeup off and ran a brush through Crimson's curls. Just as I had begun to brush my teeth there was a gentle knock at the door,"Allyson, it's me, Elliot." The voice spoke as I ran to open the door, toothbrush still in my mouth,"hey!" He smiled as I flung the door open,"give me a second!" I managed to get out between the mouthful of toothpaste and he nodded, walking into my bedroom.

I ran into the bathroom and spat the blue bubbles into the sink, rinsing my mouth out quickly. Slowly, I walked into the bedroom, still in my gown,"would you mind unzipping me?" I asked him, pulling my hair up so that he could reach the zipper,"do you want the necklace off too?" He smiled and I nodded sleepily, his warm hands undid the clasp on my necklace and laid it onto the white wooden desk, moving onto the blood red gown,"you stole the show tonight." He smiled as he tugged on the zipper, I shook my head,"Alex looked the best tonight." He laughed,"yes she did look amazing, but you were practically glowing." I yawned again,"must've been all the highlighter Desiree used on me." He cocked a brow,"Desiree?" I smiled,"she did my makeup for tonight." He shook his head as he finished unzipping my dress.
I pulled a pair of pjs out of the dresser in the corner, I pulled the oversized shirt over my head and crawled into the bed, Elliot laid ontop of the covers, his eyes practically glowing in the dark,"do your eyes glow?" I asked him and he laughed loudly,"I don't think so." I shook my head and nestled into the pillows,"I'd really like to get to know you, but I can't keep my eyes open." I told him with sleep filling my voice,"I'll go then." He began, starting to get off of the bed, I shook my head,"stay until I fall asleep?" He laughed, putting his hand over my own,"alright."
His breathing began to grow heavy as I let my eyes close and allowed sleep overtake me, slowly drifting into a dreamless slumber.