Chapter 47

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Prince Nikolas dropped my arm and then turned to face me. "Queen Klara told me that we will start the first dance," he said, bowing.

"Did she tell you that I don't know how to dance?" I asked nervously.

"Yes," he answered. "Now you curtsey."

I did my best curtsey—fortunately my dress made it look far more elegant than it normally may have, and I had practice curtseying as a maid. Then, Prince Nikolas took a step or two towards me and place one hand on the small of my back and took my right hand in his white gloved left hand.

"Let us hope for the best," he told me quietly. And then, we were dancing. We managed to move around the room without too much tangling of feet. Most of my many missteps were hidden underneath my billowing ballgown. Despite my lack of dancing skills, I still found it to be inordinately fun. Prince Nikolas often warned me of certain moves, such as when he had me do a twirl. All things considered, the first dance went very well.

"You did good following my lead," he told me after the first song ended. "I think you would do quite well with actual dance lessons."

"You think so?" I asked, smiling. The next song was starting.

"Indeed," he answered, starting to get into position for our next song. After Prince Nikolas and I danced the next song, Lord Mercucio walked up to me, wearing a burnt orange tuxedo that somehow seemed to work for him.

"Hello Cassie," he said, beaming. "Would you do me the honor of dancing the next with me?"

Ah, right. Queen Klara had said that I technically only needed to dance the first two and the last dance with my Prince for the day.

I glanced at Prince Nikolas, who as far as I could tell didn't have a lot of people to talk to or dance with. "Is that alright with you?" I asked him.

"Of course," he said. "You should dance with many people."

I turned to Mercucio and grinned. "Then I would love to dance with you, Lord Mercucio."

Prince Nikolas walked off while Mercucio stepped up to me and placed his hand on my back. "Oh, didn't I tell you that there's no need for any of that 'Lord' business? It makes me feel terribly old."

"I apologize, Merc," I said with a laugh.

"Great! I feel better already."

"You should know that I can't dance," I started.

"You looked good to me with Prince Nikolas," Merc said, taking the first step.

"Well we fudged it. A lot of it. We sort of just made it up, and he did all the work," I said.

"Then it's a good thing that I'm an excellent dancer and faker," he grinned. Again, I laughed, and we continued on in our dance.

"You look very pretty tonight," Mercucio said.

"Thank you! You look—"

"You know," he interrupted. "Coleman couldn't keep his eyes off of you when you entered the room, nor when you danced with that snooty Prince of yours."

I fumbled a little bit. "Sorry!" I chirped.

"Did I catch you off guard, then?" Mercucio grinned.

"Well, yes," I said. "I just—was he really looking at me?"

"All throughout dinner too," Merc told me. "It was quite interesting."

"Wow," I said. "And—and why are you telling me this?"

"I just wanted to see your reaction, I guess," he answered. "You seem like an interesting woman, Cassie. That was proven when you chose his royal arrogance to be your prince."

"Well I find you quite interesting myself," I told him. "You were the only one who didn't avoid me like the plague at the banquet."

"Roibey didn't avoid you either!" Merc protested. "Though, I like to think that I'm a fair bit more interesting than him, so I'll accept your compliment."

"Have you and Coleman been friends long?" I asked.

"Yes! He, Madeline, Roiben and I have been friends our whole lives."

"Really?"

"Indeed. My family owns the greatest farmlands in Aregano, and subsequently we are the richest of the nobles. The Rylin and Clifford families are also very prominent nobles. It's why Queen Klara allowed the facilitation of our friendship."

"I had no idea," I said. "Say, what do you make of Queen Klara?"

"Oh, she's nice enough," Mercucio told me. "But have you ever read or seen Harry Potter?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, if Queen Klara went to Hogwarts, she would definitely be a Slytherin. And that's what I have to say on our beloved Queen."

I guffawed. "Wow! A Slytherin?"

"Don't get me wrong, I quite like her. She's funny, but certainly crafty. You have to be on your toes with her."

"Mercucio, you are just a wealth of information!"

"Well I'm sure you've picked up on a thing or two during your time in the palace that even I don't know," he said. The song was coming to a close. "I like you, Cassie. You're an interesting person. My annual pool party is coming up—indoor pool party, that is. You should come."

"Really?" I asked, as our dance came to a close. "That would be great."

"Excellent," Mercucio beamed. "I'll make sure an invitation is sent your way, and we can chat more then." With that, he bowed and walked briskly away.

Wow. I thought. A pool party at the François household?

Then, I was approached by another young man—a Lord Tyrell. I had to explain that I wasn't very good at dancing, because he was trying to pull off more complicated dance steps than I was prepared for. I danced with a few more men after him before I decided to take a break from the dance floor and rest for a moment. As I walked towards one of the food tables, I found myself looking for Prince Coleman, but I didn't see him amidst the sea of people. I finally approached a table with some water, and I was dying to quench my thirst. I skipped the champagne and guzzled down a glass of water.

"Thirsty?" a clear, pretty voice said next to me. I turned to the left to look at the voice in question. It belonged to a beautiful young woman I had never seen before—she wasn't one of Coleman's regulars. She wore a sleeveless red mermaid dress imbedded with sparkles. Her pale skin complimented her vivid red hair that was pulled up into an elegant updo. She had large eyes fringed with long, dark lashes, a petite nose, and a knowing smile.

I looked down at my empty glass a bit sheepishly. "Ah, I suppose the way I drank that was unladylike."

The young woman laughed merrily. "Oh, trust me, I don't mind. I found it refreshing."

I smiled. "Glad to hear you weren't appalled by my lack mannerisms."

"Most of the nobles all act so prim and proper, but their behavior behind closed doors is often a bit more scandalous than heartily enjoying a glass of water after a series of dances."

I laughed. "Oh I believe that."

"Well, I am glad to have made your way to this table at this time. I thought I ought to pay my compliments to your bold choice of the Autumn Prince. Did you know that for almost a decade now, Prince Coleman has been selected as the Autumn Prince?"

"A decade?" I gaped. "Really?"

"Ever since he turned sixteen," she said with a lilting tone. "Everyone expected you to follow in suite this year. It was clever of you not to. I don't think that choosing Prince Coleman would give you much of an advantage."

               "An advantage?"

               "I'm sure you've seen the tabloids. He's not known for commitment. You'd have had a nice time with him and that would be the end of that. Now, I don't know that Prince Nikolas is going to be very helpful either, he's very proper, but at least you caused a stir," she said with a conspiratorial smile.

               "Who would you have chosen, then?" I asked. "What would have been a more advantageous choice?"

               "Me?" She looked up thoughtfully for a second. "Well, Lord Mercucio François first comes to mind."

               "Mercucio? And why him? Because he's rich?"

               "Well, he's incredibly wealthy to be sure, but I'd choose him because he's a hopeless romantic. Always falling in love at the drop of a hat, the poor dear. Always getting his heart broken. A gesture such as choosing him to be the Autumn Prince over Coleman? Well, you can imagine how he might feel," she said, smiling.

               "I have to admit, I don't think I put that much thought into the whole thing, such as who would be most advantageous," I said.

               "Well, it's an important thing to think about," she told me. "I've learned that men will use women to get what they want, which is usually sex, so we ought to use men right back and get something that we want."

               I chuckled. "You make a fair point. I feel like you'd certainly make the most out of the Queen Maiden position, more so than me at least."

               "I'm afraid Queen Klara's not a big fan of yours truly," she quipped. "But it is of no matter. I don't need to be Queen Maiden, nor do I need to chase after Prince Coleman like so many do."

               I felt a little knot in my stomach, as I thought about my own interest in Prince Coleman. But I could be worse, I thought. Afterall, I didn't pick him to be my prince for the day.

               "He has many admirers," I said. "Though, I don't think that's quite the right word to describe them."

               "I find that the term 'groupie' does the trick," she retorted. "They all think that they have chance to win him over, but they don't. No one does. So why bother?"

               Why bother indeed, I thought. "I guess it's because he's charming," I shrugged. "Though that doesn't really justify his hoard of fangirls." Am I one of them? I wondered.

               "Oh, he's certainly charming. Coleman and I are...friends, of a sort, but I don't hold onto foolish fantasies that he'll crown me his queen one day," she chortled.

               "Friends?" I asked, trying to brush away the tinge of jealousy. Why was I jealous? I knew this was who he was.

               "It's a long story," the redhead said. "I'll have to tell you some other time."

               "Some other time? After today the carriage turns back into a pumpkin and I'm just a commoner again."

               "Oh, but who cares about social class? Well, some people care but I certainly don't. People are people, and I rather like you."

               "I appreciate that. It's a sentiment most don't seem to share," I answered. Instinctively, I liked her. She was blunt, honest, and clever, and in many ways she reminded me of myself.

               "That's nobility for you," she said.

               "Well, even if I didn't choose Lord Mercucio to be my prince for the day, I guess I'm still making an advantageous connection through you," I joked.

               She laughed. "See, you're learning already."

               "I'm trying to do my best," I admitted. "Though it's hard to get to know people."

               She sighed. "You're telling me? Half the nobility my age treats me like a leper."

               "Why?" I asked.

               "Not to scare you away, but I'm my father's bastard child. These types of people don't take kindly to a thing like that."

               "Well I'm literally a maid so if you think I care..." I shrugged, and she seemed to find that amusing. Then, her eyes caught on something past me and she rolled her eyes. I quickly found the object of her gaze—it was none other than Lady Madeline Rylin sauntering towards us in a gorgeous gold halter top dress with her golden tresses tied up in a gorgeous updo.

               "Speaking of groupies," she muttered to me as Madeline approached.

               "Well, well, well," Lady Madeline drawled as she approached us. "Why am I not surprised to see you two getting along? It's a match made in heaven: Cassie Carmichael and Marstella Allegro."

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