Between the Shadows

The Ball

3

Damae

As dinner comes to a close, the pianist, violinist, and harp player starts to play their music louder. Older couples begin to make their way to the front of the ballroom, where it is wide open in front of the thrones to dance. I stare at the older couples swaying to the music, not missing a beat. As more and more people come to dance, I find myself wanting to join them. Feet and bodies move together in perfect synchronization.

I wanted that when I was young, watching as my parents loved each other and loved us with everything they had. I wanted the dedication and loyalty they shared, but after my mother died, nothing I wanted previously mattered anymore. I was trained to prepare to win or to die.

“Princess Nalmaire, I am Prince Gerin Drake, heir to the Kingdom of Deddai. May I have this dance?” I quickly snap out of my daydreaming to see a man dressed in a grey suit bow low and place his hand out for my sister to take. He has dark brown hair that sits on his shoulders. He would compliment my sister well. He is tall and slender, his face reminds me of someone, strong jaw, perfect, straight nose, and his eyes are the lightest blue I have ever seen. I looked away from his hand, and Nal’s eyes were wide and looking into mine; she was scared, unknowing what to do. I gave her a quick smile and nod. I mouth to her, “Yes, go! Have fun.” She smiles and glances up at father, he nods as well, not returning her smile. Nal takes Gerin’s hand and they were off to dance.

I stand up and run my hands down the front of my dress to smooth out the wrinkles from sitting. “Father, I am going to the powder room. Once I return I will begin my task you have assigned to me.” Not wanting a response from him, I bow my head and start to walk off the dais.

A deep strong laugh echos through the hall. I stop. That was the most inviting sound I have ever heard. I stare out where everyone is now dancing and there he is. The mysterious stranger is dancing with an older woman who must have said something funny, because he is still smiling at her. Something starts to warm low in my gut, I can’t look away. The way he holds her as they dance, and the way she looks into his steely eyes, makes my chest burn. He must have felt my eyes on him because as he spins her around, her back now facing me, he looks up and our eyes lock. His smile fell, he turns them away from me, continuing his dance, and I went cold. I turn on my heel and go to the powder room.

“What is wrong with me? I need to get my head in the game. I need to do anything to get the upper hand in the upcoming Goddess of Helpia Trials.” I talked to myself in the mirror. “Scheme, lie, seduce.” Glancing at myself, I feel like I look like a goddess, or as close as I can get to one. I guess you can say I look the part of princess. Fixing my dress and making sure my make up hasn’t moved, there was a knock on the door. “Occupied!” I yell, yet the door still swings open. I quickly turn to look at the door, my hand ready to grab my dagger. Then I see him. The mysterious man who has my head unfocused. My hand freezes over my dagger. “What- what are you doing in here? This is the ladies' roo-” He strides to me, and pushes me against the wall. One of his hands on my waist and one on the side of my neck and jaw. In one quick movement, I unsheath my dagger and pressed it against his throat.

A deep laugh emits from his throat, his lips in a dangerous smirk. “Well, well, I don’t know of any princesses who carry a dagger under their dresses. Little dangerous thing you are.” His eyes scan my face, they land on my lips, and on instinct, I bite my lower lip.

“As I said, this is the ladies' room.” I suck in a quick breath, he smells like smoke, but it the softest way with a hint of bourbon or vanilla, I can’t quite place it. I watch the way his eyes moved to my body. My body heats; he is doing something to me. I feel him press his body more into mine, forcing my dagger tighter onto his throat, a red drop rolls out from under the tip of my blade. “If you don’t want me to slit your throat, I suggest you leave.” His hand left my waist and trailed up my exposed thigh. Stupid dress, I should have worn a damn floofy ball gown. His fingers are trailing higher up my thigh, my body reacting on its own as I push my hips into his.

A low groan echoes through the room. Watching his face closely, I can tell he is distracted. Now is my chance. I loosen the dagger against his throat, “Hmm, I guess even dangerous little things like you also enjoy pleasure.” His hand rose higher, but slowly, heat followed the path his fingers took.

I drop the dagger from his throat and shove him away. My body flushes with the wall, my chest heavily rising and falling. I will not let him distract me from what I am ordered to do.

“What do you think you're going to accomplish here?” I took slow, deliberate steps closer to him as I change tone in my voice, giving him something else to be distracted with. No more fear, only seduction. Pointing my dagger at his chest as I saunter over, “You know my name. Will you give me the honor of knowing yours?” I stop walking, lifted my dress and made a show of putting my dagger back in its sheath. When I was done, I took a couple of steps closer till my chest was now inches away from his.

“Oh Danger, you don’t want to know my name. I am no one significant.” He comes closer, so our bodies were touching in all the wrong, but right places.

“You’re here at a ball, in my Kingdom, for a chance to win my sister’s heart. That makes you pretty significant.” I emphasize the last word because everyone here is of high rank or royalty. Which one could he be? “Now, I won't ask again.” I slowly ran my hand down from his shoulder to his chest, his strong, muscular chest, as I stared into his beautiful grey eyes. “What is your na-”

Before I could finish my sentence, his lips were on mine. I was right, they are soft. My body reacts instantly, I shove my hips into him, I feel his hard erection on my stomach as his hand grips the back of my neck and one to the curve of my ass. His lips move perfectly against mine. This is something I have never experienced before. He grips my neck harder, as our kiss deeps with desperation. I removed his suit jacket, my lips never leaving his. His movements with his hands get rushed, trying to feel every part of my body, like he was trying to remember the shape of my curves and how I felt against him.

I step back, his eyes taking in every inch of my body. I look at him, his lips swollen, his chest rising and falling heavily. Now I know what I need to do. I walked slowly to him, ran my hands up his chest, and grab onto his tie. I pulled him down to my lips, and he kisses me with no hesitation.

Scheme, lie, and seduce. I use most of my strength to turn us around so his back was near the wall where he had me pinned. I tore my lips from his and pushed my hand into his chest and shoved him back against the wall.

I leaned into him, on my toes I put my lips next to his ear, “Never going to happen.” I smirk at him and wink. I take a few steps back, look in the mirror to make sure I didn't look completely disheveled. With one last sideways glance at this man, this beautiful, mysterious stranger, I leave him even though I really didn’t want to.

I made my way back to the ballroom, more frustrated and more irritated than before. I can’t believe that just happened. I looked around the room and found my sister dancing with a different man. How long was I in there? I can’t believe I let myself get distracted by him. I have always been focused, always knew how to feel or how to act. I hope I never see him again.

“Excuse me, Princess Damae?” I turn to see a gentleman who is dressed in a black suit with a purple tie. He has shaggy blonde hair and simple blue eyes, nothing about him stood out. He held his hand out to me. “May I have this dance?” I nod and take his hand as he led me to the center of everyone who was dancing. “Must I say, you look ravishing tonight. I have been to this palace many times with my father and have always have caught glimpses of you. You never once look like… this.” His thin smile reaches his eyes and his small nimble hands slide down my waist closer to my ass. My body shivers, but it did not feel the same way that felt with the man in the bathroom, who just had his lips on mine. Now I feel a bit violated.

“May I ask who you and your father are? I am not as educated on all of the people in this Kingdom as my sister.” I smile politely and let him lead me through the dance.

“Oh, I am no part of this Kingdom. I am Prince Tikes Norman from the Kingdom of Hurstith. I am in the Trials this year and I wanted to make myself known to you. I am not the strongest, but I am smart.” He pauses. I look into his eyes. He has very kind blue eyes, I can tell he is being genuine. “I was hoping to make an alliance with you.” I am taken aback a little bit. I stop dancing for one second, then let him guide me back into the rhythm of the music.

“Well, that was quite unexpected. Why do you think I would make a good alliance for you?” I said as I look over his shoulder at my sister. She is back to dancing with Prince Gerin. She seems to like him, Gerin is keeping his hands in an appropriate place, so that makes me kind of like him a bit more too. It put a smile on my face to see her relaxed and comfortable with him.

“Well, I-” He stopped talking mid sentence which brought my attention back to him. His mouth is hanging wide open and his eyes are focused on something over my head.

“May I cut in?” That deep voice instantly made my stomach twist and heat rose in my stomach, heading straight down to my core.

“Yes, yes of course, Thorsen.” I feel his body tighten as his hands drop from mine in an instant. “She-the Princess, is all yours, Prince Drake. Hav-have fun.” Tikes stutters, turns and practically runs away. I refuse to turn around, so instead I watch my sister dance with who I know now is the brother of my mystery man. My sister looks at me, her eyes went wide and her brows furrow in confusion. I gave her a quick smile to reassure her. She smiles back and then laughs at whatever Gerin said to her in her ear.

I feel Thorsen press his body up against my back, it was solid and warm. He leans down so his lips are grazing my ear, “Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question, but a demand. And I'll be damned if he is going to be ordering me around.

“No.”

His breath on my neck sent goose bumps down my entire body. How was I going to say no to this man again? He has me in a bind I didn’t ask for, but there is something about him that makes me want to say yes.

“I will not ask again.” He said with a growl. I turn on my heel, and I immediately regret it. He is still leaning over and my lips slightly against graze his soft lips. I step back stunned. He stood up straight, unfazed, holding out his hand. “Your father is watching you like a hawk; you better not upset the king.” I roll my eyes and slam my hand into his.

“Do not think I want to dance with you, because I definitely do not.” I step into his body, and his hand wraps around my waist. His hand is solid and warm. My right hand wraps around his left. His hand slides from my hip to my back, sending a jolt of need to my core. His hand covers most of my lower back as he leads me into a delicate dance. Our movements were never once out of place, as if we had been dancing together our entire lifetime.

“Danger, everyone wants to dance with me. Now that you know, I am Prince Thorsen, the most fearsome and handsomest Prince in all the land.” I look up from his shoulder and met his eyes, he was smiling, I don't know why but he is.

“Was that supposed to be a joke?” Looking in between both of his eyes I look for anything he wasn't saying. I have never seen eyes like his and they have me all messed up inside. What am I saying?! I just met the guy and he is the Heir to the Deddai throne. The most feared Kingdom, they had the strongest warriors and the strongest magic. Magic. Something in my head clicks. Had he been using magic this entire time to seduce me? I am so stupid, how could I fall for it. I was tasked with finding weaknesses in the other trial contestants, what if he was too?

“Everything you're thinking about is shown on your face, you know?” He said as he looks at me.

“No it is not?”

“Yes, it is. Your nose crinkles when you're thinking, and you must be overthinking like a classic woman because your whole beautiful face is scrunched.” He flicks my nose.

I draw my head back, “I do not scrunch my nose. Prince Thorsen, you know absolutely nothing about me.” I look away to find anything in the room to look at that wasn’t him.

“I do know something about you. I know that you are the most stunning woman in this room. I can also tell that you think you are strong, but you want to give in to me. You draw people into you even when they don’t want to.” I stare back at him. His eyes bounce between mine. “You, little Danger, are nothing short of a mystery that I intend to find everything about.” He leans into me a little more, our eyes never wavering from each other. I am trying to solve the mystery of him, just as much as he is me.

The music ends, and every couple around us separated and bowed to each other. But Thorsen and I, we stay connected, hand in hand, eyes not straying from each other. We are in a bubble that won’t pop or so I thought.

“Everyone, thank you for coming!” My sister’s voice popped our perfect, silent, sexy bubble. We quickly step away from each other and stand shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the thrones where my sister stood. “Tonight was a bit scary for me, but each and every one of you made me feel comfortable and loved in a way I didn't know a Kingdom to do. Tonight has felt like a real fairy tale for me. Thank you.” She curtsies to everyone here and holds out her hand to Gerin Drake. She is choosing Prince Gerin Drake. “Tonight I found someone who made me laugh and smile. I am excited to get to him and glad he is now part of my future.”

I rub my hands down my dress and speak softly, only Thorsen can hear, “Well, I guess that’s that.” I walk up to the King with a small bow. “My task is complete.” I turn and storm out of the ballroom with my shoulders up, my head high, but my heart is heavy, and I don’t know exactly why.