Much Ado about Something

Prologue Part 1 - Grace

"The Prince is holding a ball to look for his mate!"

Genette came flying into my room, holding a scroll stamped with the royal seal. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her hair was in a windblown mess that resembled a bird's nest. Calmly, I took the scroll, since my younger sister was evidently too flustered to give me the rest of the details.

While it was a well-known fact that the Crown Prince, Benjamin, had been searching for his mate across first the Shifter kingdom, Gardenia, then in neighboring countries Jamelda and Phidel, this was the first time he'd actively sought her among commoners. The only country Prince Ben hadn't searched was Shalî, the Dark Fae country on the other side of Jamelda, the Vampire country. This wasn't merely because Shalî was home to all the forms of Dark Fae, from Demons and Ghouls to Fallen Angels and Goblins, but also because Gardenia itself was so vast, crossing its deserts to the mountain pass to Jamelda's forests and mountains was a long journey. Continuing to Shalî, with its dark forests and winding prairies, was nearly impossible.

"On this third day of this seventh month, in the year 816, shall be held a royal ball at the palace of the Werewolf Royal family of the country of Gardenia, in the capital city of Wereurbia, to which all the maidens in the kingdom are invited..." I was cut off again by Genette's dramatic squeals.

"Mum and Dad will be so pleased!" Genette babbled more as she ran off to tell them, but it was lost to my ears, probably because my hearing wasn't as good as that of the average Werewolf's. Nice, how she forgot that, almost as if I were entirely normal.

Snorting, I turned to flip through the dresses in my closet, wondering if anything I had would do for the ball. Fat chance that I'd be his mate anyway, but my parents would make me go.

The night of the ball was nerve-wracking. I stared in the mirror at my gown. Thankfully Mum hadn't forced me into the monstrosity that Genette had wanted me to wear, which matched her appalling confection of pink satin, lace, and an enormous bow. My gown was more subtle, understated. The plain ivory-colored fabric was like linen, but thicker, in a night-gown style that hinted at virtue, according to my mother. The only adornment was a string of pearls around the neck, matching buttons down the back, and one layer of faded lace on the bottom. I wore plain brown boots and a huge brass witch's pendant around my neck, under the gown. My hair was in a net of pearls, the one frill I allowed my mother to press upon me, and I wore pearl studs for earrings. The prince wouldn't notice me if his mate stood behind me.

We arrived right on time, instead of fashionably late, like Genette wanted. Inside, the ballroom was a mess of estrogen. Skanky she-wolves wearing red tube dresses sauntered - or rather, TRIED to saunter; they really only wobbled - around, and groups of wolves formed and melted as cliques merged and jabbered about how the prince would be sure to find his mate tonight. Even the more conservatively dressed girls wore brilliant colors in a bid to get his attention, while mothers lectured their daughters on how best to comport themselves. Genette had at least three carbon-copies circulating the floor, looking like Little Bo Peep in baby-pink ballgowns, golden curls spilling out from under those absurd bonnets. I'd bet that if I looked one in the eye, I'd see innocent bright blue orbs ogling me with a hint of concern.

A girl in a skin-tight, backless green gown wove through the crowd beside us, and I admired her ease with the sky-high wooden platform heels she was wearing; it was rare to see someone able to actually walk in the things. Her gown matched her brilliant grass-colored eyes, which were paired with classical raven-tinted curls and lips the color of blood to make up the stunning face of one of our kingdom's nobles that I didn't know very well; Eden, or something like that? She was vaguely familiar, anyway, so I realized why she wore the jade-green matching dress and heels with such ease. She'd been born to this life.