Rarer Than Gems

Chapter 6- That fateful day

The day finally came- Prince Antoine's twenty first birthday. He woke up that morning and sat up on his bed then suddenly, a wave of realization came upon him. He breathed a heavy sigh and laid down again. Then his doors suddenly flung open.

'Bon anniversaire Antoine, ma chérie!' (Happy birthday Antoine, my darling!), his mother said, as she waltzed into his room and threw the curtains open, then proceeded to fling Antoine's blanket off him, and give him a peck on the cheek.

'Five more minutes', he replied, in an extremely fatigued tone.

'I can't believe you're still asleep at this time, and on a joyeous day like this.'

'I'm just a little tired mother'. He actually wasn't as tired as he made himself appear. He just wasn't ready for all the responsibilities that they were going to make him handle that day. 'Besides', he continued, 'The party is at six o'clock this evening, can't you just wake me up then?', he said, with a mischievous grin on his face.

'Antoine, you lazy bum', his mother said. 'You know you have alot of responsibilities to handle today.'

'Even on my birthday?'

'Especially on your birthday, and this isn't just any birthday, it's your coming of age birthday. You're now an adult', she said. 'Now get up and get ready. Alot of nobles are coming prior to six o'clock and you have to welcome them.'

' *sigh* Yes mother.'

Later, in the evening, it was a few minutes before six o'clock and Prince Antoine was about to be officially introduced. Nkenna was dressed in a baby blue, high-low, thin-strapped gown, silver gladiator heels and beautifully adorned with silver jewelry, with her medium-length hair drapped down. She stood beside Alejandro, who was dressed in a tuxedo and dress shoes, his curls wildly flowing every which way.

'Dami, did you comb your hair at all?', Nkenna asked Alejandro, with an eyebrow raised.

'Of course I did. It took me nearly an hour to get it looking this good', he replied.

'Yeah. I can totally see your effort working for you', Nkenna replied, sarcastically.

Veronica had on a short-sleeved, long, yellow, evening gown, which covered most of her black heels and had a slit. She was adorned with gold jewelry, with her hair packed up in a bun. Veronica, the senior editor and the team of photographers were all finishing up their final preparations. Veronica suddenly bolted away from the group, and walked towards Nkenna.

'Eeekkkkkkk!!!!!!!!', Veronica squealed. 'Guess what?', she asked Nkenna. She didn't even give Nkenna enough time to reply before she told her what it was. 'After the ball's over, I'm going to have a one-on-one interview with Prince Antoine!!!!!!', she said, with so much excitement.

'OMG!!!! I'm so happy for you! Don't mess it up', Nkenna replied.

'I won't, oh and don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you *wink*', Veronica said, mischievously.

'Ha ha, whatever', Nkenna smiled and said.

The announcer began to speak.

'ESTEEMED NOBLES FROM FAR AND NEAR, DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO CELEBRATE THE COMING OF AGE OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS. AS THE CEREMONY BEGINS, PLEASE LET US ALL WELCOME HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, PRINCE ANTOINE NICHOLAS JOHN-PAUL THE FIRST.

Trumpets began to sound as two guards opened a very large two-way door at the top of a long flight of stairs, revealing Prince Antoine. He began to descend down the stairs in his royal attire, with his hazelnut -brown hair pompadoured, as he tried to keep his face as serious as possible.

'He's like, a trillion times more handsome in person!!!!!!!!', Veronica squealed.

He finally reached the bottom of the stairs and the trumpet sound ceased. His phone began to ring. His mother ran towards him in utter horror.

'ANTOINE!!!!!!', She whispered in hush tones, enraged. 'Didn't I tell you not to take your phone along with you. It'll be a massive distraction.'

'I know mother, but I was expecting an important phone call and........'

'That's enough Antoine. Now, give me your phone.'

'Fine.........', he said, then handed his phone over to her.

His mother then apologised for the interference and the ceremony continued.

Pachelbel's cannon in D major by Bach began to play. The music playing signified that it was time for the first dance. It had always been a royal tradition that their ceremonies began with the first dance. In this case, it had to be initiated by Prince Antoine, with it being that the ceremony was in honour of him.

This shouldn't be so hard, he thought to himself. I just have to pick a partner, and dance. I can do this.

He began to look across the crowd, as if he were going to choose a partner at random, but he already had a girl in mind, and then he finally spotted her- Valerie, the wonderful girl he had met the day before. He proceeded towards her.

'Valerie', he said excitedly, with a charming smile on his face.

'Prince Antoine', she said, warmly. 'We meet again.'

'May I have this dance?', he said.

'Of course.'

They began to dance. Others began to dance also.

'You're a really good dancer', said Antoine.

'You're not bad either', she replied.

'Thank you............I think', he said, and they both laughed.

The music suddenly ceased, meaning that the first dance was over.

'So soon?', Prince Antoine protested.

'Seems so', Valerie replied.

'Would you mind if we talked a bit? I really want to get to know you better', Antoine said.

Before Valerie could reply, Antoine's mother called out to him.

'Antoine, come quickly. I must introduce you to Count Grayson.'

'Coming Mother. Well, I guess I'll see you later then.'

'Definitely', Valerie said.

Antoine then met his mother, who introduced him to Count Grayson. After their meeting was done, he began to look for Valerie again.

'Now, where could she be', he said to himself, as he looked for her. 'Ah, there she is'. He spotted her over at the buffet table, speaking with Princess Amia, Antoine's sister. He began to walk towards her, then suddenly, David, his personal bodyguard, ran towards him and pushed him out of the way and received a non-fatal gunshot to his left shoulder.

'RUN PRINCE ANTOINE!!!!!', David said, with his hands over the bleeding gunshot wound, but Antoine just stood there, frozen in shock.

'RUN!!!!!!'