Returning Reign

Chapter 6

The grand dark wooden ballroom doors open. The ballroom is easily the largest room inside the entire palace that I have seen so far. The tall ceilings extend so high up that they make the large glass chandeliers look small. There are large white intricate pillars along the edges of the room holding up the second floor of the ballroom.

The sea of beautiful people and rich fabrics is almost blinding. This feels unreal. Less than a week ago I was a normal girl, with normal problems. I had precalculus homework to worry about, now my parents are missing and I somehow snuck into a royal masquerade ball in what must be another realm.

Somehow the loud music and the mask hiding my identity give me a sense of power. No one knows who I am and what I am hiding. Lizzy and I descend down the stairs and I see the people in the lower floor gaze up at us. We were confident, we looked beautiful. My eyes scan across the room searching for something unknown. Who knows what the night will offer. It feels as if Lizzy and I glided down the stairs elegantly. As soon as we approached the base of the white marble staircase there were many men at the stairs.

"Can I have a dance?" a tall man asks Lizzy smoothly. From his manners and his accents I can only guess he's royalty from Zemira or elsewhere. Lizzy turns to face me slightly shocked and excited but trying to seem composed. I nod my head and nudge her gently towards the man. He grabs her hand and kisses it, they both get swept away by their dance and the sea of dresses. I can't help but feel happy that Lizzy is living at least one crazy night she'll treasure forever.

I quickly realize that I am still standing on the base of the staircase and I step off causing me to accidentally bump into a young man. He seems about my age and has curly blonde hair. His face is covered by his mask but I can see the green eyes sparkle under the lights of the chandeliers. "I am so sorry," I apologize to him as I balance myself.

He chuckles slightly, "It's okay, pay me back with a dance?" he asks kindly. Not really finding it in me to deny him the dance I nod yes. He kisses my hand lightly and takes the lead of the dance. Thankfully he didn't ask for my name, it's better that way. I had never danced to this type of music but he seems well trained at it. He makes dancing seem easy, I follow his lead. He spins me and we dance in a comfortable silence.

When the song is done he bows, "Thank you for the dance my lady," he smiles.

"My pleasure," I reply smiling, I realize that I am actually enjoying my time at the ball. Before any more words can be exchanged between us the microphones turn on and the King and Queen walk gracefully onto the stage. The chatter halts to a stop and the attention is focused solely to the stage.

"Thank you all for joining us today. As you may know the masquerade balls are tradition in Zemira when the crown prince turns of age, eighteen years old," the king talks formally. My thoughts wander off to Nathaniel. Is he the crown prince or is it someone else? "The prince is here in this room somewhere among you. The search for a new queen bride has begun," the king announces and the room is filled with an excited buzz. "Can you find him?" the king asks and leaves the stage.

The girls and princesses wearing crowns from other kingdoms I dont know of yet, are nearly breaking their necks searching for the crown prince around the giant room. I am not. A wave of uneasiness overcomes me suddenly. What was I thinking coming to a royal ball? I have to get out of here. I turned around quickly headed for an exit. My long navy blue ball gown trails behind me as a reminder of my grave mistake.

This is a ball for the crown prince of Zemira to try and find his new bride. I certainly do not belong here. My heels were clicking on the marble floors and I was holding onto my long dress so that I could walk away faster. In less than a second it seemed as if two worlds collided. I bump into a person. My previous speed sends me toppling onto the person and my heels don't help me with stability.

I put my hands on his chest and quickly realized that it feels rock hard. I feel hands go on my waist to help me steady myself. I can't muster the courage to look up feeling too embarrassed. I feel grateful for the beautiful makeup and mask on my face for hiding my blush. "I am so sorry. I was just on my way out," I removed my hands from the stranger's chest no longer needed something to hold onto.

"It's alright love," a deep smooth masculine voice chuckles. The young man about my age removes his hands from my waist. I look up to see his face and immediately I'm frozen in my spot. He looks beautiful even in the dim lighting of the dance floor. He has dark brown hair and is really tall. My head would barely make it to his shoulders. He is stunning, it honestly took my breath away. "Cat got your tongue?" he asks as he tilts his head slightly to the side.

"Actually I was just heading outside," I say when I finally break my trance. I have already made a fool of myself when he caught me staring at him. I need to get away asap.

"I can accompany you if you don't mind?" he asks politely. I pondered the idea before deciding it wouldn't hurt anyone to spend a few moments with this handsome stranger.

"I guess you can follow along," I tell him teasingly and he gets the joke. He has a nice sense of humor I note. We exit the ballroom together and I decide to head to the library since I don't really know where else to go in the palace. We are both still wearing our masks and we have no idea who each other are. For all I know he could probably kill me. But I trust my instincts and he doesn't seem harmful. Not right now, atleast.

He walks besides me and seems as if he is familiar with the layout of the palace. Who is he? We reach the grand library and I head for a couple of comfy chairs and couches in front of a large stone fireplace. I sit down on one couch and he sits down across from me leaving a few feet between us.

"Who are you?" he tilts his handsome face to the side and curiously observes me. I feel slightly self conscious having a stranger, a very handsome stranger observe me. I try not to let it show and play it cool. I put my chin up, my shoulders back, and fixed my dress.

"Why do you want to know?" I reply and I lift my eyebrow. He leans back and rests his arms on the back of the couch.

"I have never seen you around," he replies and shrugs his shoulders. My stomach drops suddenly. I can't have him wondering who I am. He will find out I snuck into the ball. I don't even want to know what type of punishment would come along with the discovery.

"Lets dance!" I suddenly stand up and my entire dress sways dramatically with the quick motion. I have to distract him.

"You really like dancing, or are you nervous?" he asks me as he stands up as well.

"Me, nervous? You wish buddy," I joke around trying to seem confident and not scared of the fact that he picked up my anxiety. I need to get better at hiding stuff from strangers. He walks over to a vintage record player and turns it on. The library is playing some beautiful music and the main source of light is the fire from the fireplace near us.

Authors Note:

Handsome strangers and Cartia is back in the library. Whats new? For the moment I am trying to make my upload day Mondays! We'll see how long that lasts :)

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-xoxo Ellie Violet