I looked at his beautiful blue eyes which gleamed deviously at me and my body. His hair was long and black, which sleeked back neatly. He was handsome, no, he was gorgeous. I suddenly realized how he was so much better than me. I didn't know him and I already knew he was better than me in so many ways. Why did he want me again?
His hand traced down my arm and down to my hand which he gently kissed when he bowed down to do so. I blushed bright red and looked away, knowing it was too much to bear for myself. I could see others amazed that the prince had come up to me, and some girls even glared at me. The prince slowly got up from his bow, still holding my hand with a smirk as he pulled me in closer.
"You must be Jess Ashmane?" He said, bringing his other hand up to my cheek and skimming it down to my chin where he rested his fingers to lift my chin up. Damn, he was good at flirting too. I gently pushed away from him, trying not to be rude, and bowed respectfully.
"Your highness" I spoke, making him chuckle.
"No need to be so formal," He said as I got back up. I looked away for a second and back at him calmly.
"Sorry, Prince William. I don't mean to be rude or anything by pushing you away, but I don't want you getting attached to someone you don't really know. What if you don't find me the same after tonight?" I asked. He smirked.
"I doubt that." He scoffed, "Look at you, just by what you have said I can tell you're respectful, kind, think of others, and you don't care about your own self. To be honest I think you just made me feel even more in love. I'm more worried about you and what you will do after tonight". I was silent, not really knowing what to say. After seconds of silence, he grabbed my hand. "Wanna dance?"
"I-I'm not a dancer" I admitted, "What if I fall?".
"I'll catch you," He said, gently pulling me into the area where people were dancing. The people on a stage played their instruments into a slow tune. Prince William brought his fingers up to mine and connected them together. He put his other hand down on my hip, and on instinct, I put my hand on his shoulder. We slowly moved back and forth to the music as I drifted into a dream of clouds that we danced on. I told myself that I shouldn't fall in love with him since he would probably want someone else anyways, but it was impossible not to feel special.
The song seemed to drift away in my ears and my eyes closed as the steps played out. I hummed a little before I felt Prince William pull me closer until my face was laying on his shoulder. My face lit up in a bright red and I tensed for a second. Soon I relaxed and let my hands snake up his body and around his neck. If he was going to get rid of me, I wanted my memories to be spent with no waste.
The music seemed to dance way too quickly for me and I groaned inside my head. On the outside, my face smiled and I let my hands roll down his arms as I walked out of the dancing spots and towards the shades of the party. I wasn't going to lie, I hated attention, and with the people seeing me with the prince I was getting a lot of it. I wanted to go hide away but this was a party and the best thing I could do was hide in a corner and look as if I'm not anxious.
"You okay?" A girl asked suddenly. It was a small-sized girl but she was holding drinks. She was a maid that worked for the kingdom and was probably on duty tonight. I nodded to her.
"Yes ma'am, I'm fine. How are you this evening?" I asked, trying not to seem as if I was trying to get her to leave. She was probably the only one I wanted to talk to since she wasn't wearing anything fancy and wasn't a rich stuck-up that was only flirting to get sexual pleasure.
"You can call me Stephanie," She smiled, "I'm doing fine though. Thank you for asking. Would you like a drink?" She asked. I already knew my answer was a no. I hated alcohol and that stuff would be full of it. My father used to drink, thank god he got off of it, he used to be gone for hours and hours until the point that he would practically not come back in days. He finally decided to stop when he had made me bleed so much I was sent to the hospital. Even if he was abusive today, he's getting better, and I believe that soon he will be as normal as the others.
"No thank you, Stephanie. I'm Jess by the way, but you can call me whatever you like to" I said. She nodded and walked off, going to serve other people at the party. My eyes scanned the area until they spotted a small dark path that looked as if fireflies were leading into the darkness. I looked around before making my way to the path and followed down its way. Was I going to get in trouble for leaving the party? My eyes widened as the path opened up into a small lake. It was as if the moonlight shined perfectly on the water as I entered the area.
"Beautiful!" I said breathlessly. I walked to the water, looking at the shimmer in it. It was amazing and it looked as if it was sea blue and not lake blue like it would have if it was day. I put my hand levitating above the water, letting my pal touch it a little. Little ripples went through it and I gasped.
"I see you like the lake better than the party?" A voice made me turn my head upwards.
"Hello, Prince William" I smiled kindly, "I'm sorry. Am I not supposed to be here? I'll return to the party then" I stood up. Before I could move, Prince William stopped me by grabbing my arms.
"No, it's ok. I didn't say that at all. I like being alone here too. This is close to the castle and it's safe and hidden so I like to come here to get away from drama and stuff. The only other person who knows this place is my father" Prince William said. He went over to the edge of the lake, twirling his fingers a little at first. I looked down at the water as tiny curls of water arose from the lake and into the air. I looked amazed as I reached down to touch it.
"Wow, your power is so cool," I said. As soon as my hand got close to touching it an image flashed in my head. It was a huge shadow that swirled around the water, gleaming at me as it did when I was at the house and the flame was out of control. It was only around for a minute but it was enough for me to fall backward onto the grass in fear.
"Hey, Hey are you okay?" Prince William bent down. I was gasping and my handheld up to my head, I could feel the sweat running down my face. I quickly stood up.
"Do you see it?" I muttered, "The shadows?".
"Shadows? What shadows? There are shadows everywhere of course I see them" Prince Williams said. I looked at him for a long second before raising my hand and flickering my fingers. When I did so, all five of my fingers lit on firelight nubs of a candle.
"Nevermind..." I muttered, playing around with my finger, "I'm gonna head back to the party".
"No!" He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled it, causing the flames to go out and I fell into his chest. My face heated up and I swear it was as if I almost had a nose bleed. Prince William hugged me, keeping me from pulling away. "It's ok to talk about it. I don't think you're crazy, after all, we both have these weird abilities".
"Please...let go...I-I'm not very comfortable with hugs," I said.
"O-oh okay" He let go.
"...it only happened when I used my powers or sometimes alone in my room. Any flames that made some kind of shadow would pop up and, well...It would tell me things I already knew about myself. It brings me down and I'm afraid that I won't get back up. I hope one day that there will be a way to give my power away or end it completely, and never have to use it. What about you? Do you have anything like that or am I truly going insane?" I asked.
"No...I don't" He admitted, "But I understand you. Listen to me, Jess. I know this is hard for you because you think that anyone is better, but I chose you and when I first saw you tonight I knew I wanted you to at least try to stay until summer and get to know me. I just knew it. And now, I hope you will stay at the castle with me too." He said, "I'll go back to the party and leave you with your thoughts. If your here when the party ends then I'll come look for you" He walked off.