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THE ARRIVING LADIES SENT THE princes into unmitigated excitement. Jak watched as one by one the girls entered the main ballroom area and each of the princes came forward to greet them. The prince himself hadn't yet arrived. He'd make a dramatic entrance, it appeared. The others believed, as they'd been told, that Bashir didn't want to upstage them by taking the girls’ attention right away. Jak knew better. He'd seen Bashir with the princesses. Just because he chose one or two at the outset didn't mean he didn't have his eye on every single one of them.
Jak didn't have any interest in any of the ladies who arrived. They seemed young and silly compared to Rasha. The mermaid caused a stir with her skin-colored turquoise dress that shimmered when she shifted in the light. Her hair fell in
