13 Glare

It was the first time Dominic had looked at something with such a focused, adoring gaze before. It wasn't his first to have a focused gaze, but it was his first to look at something he liked. That was the woman standing in front of him dressing in a lovely golden ball-gown, a delicate flower crown on her lock shiny waves of black that fell down to her back. The woman that looked up at him with a bright smile and such charming, glimmering deep purple eyes.

"Took you a while there my princess," Dominic teased with a fake pout, "I was starting to believe you had left me alone to slick back to your quiet library to bury yourself in books."

Claudia grinned. "I would never, my prince," she giggled, "how could I miss an event made to celebrate my very own engagement?"

Dominic made a thinking expression, his eyes looking at her playfully. "Who knows what a clever lady like you would prefer doing?" He shrugged, "I'm sure you have many other things you could be doing other than walking around in a fancy dress for all to see."

Claudia burst into laughter. Her laugh settled into a grin as she squeezed Dominic's hands. "The only one I have to please here, is you, my prince. You are the only reason why I'm dressed to the T," she teased, "otherwise, why would I let my mother and maids argue over the right ornaments and outfit to doll me up in?"

Dominic chuckled, his emerald eyes gleaming in delight. He peered down at her, locking eyes. "It seems all their nonsensual bickering didn't go to waste," he smiled, "You look stunning, Claudia."

Claudia. Claudia R. Clav, the princess of the Adria kingdom. The woman that made him smile, made him feel comfortable, and liked him with everything in her being, just like he did for her. The woman he was to marry. 

He reached down for her hands and held it, gazing into the deep purple shimmer in her eyes. He squeezed her hands and when she looked up at him, squeezing his hand in return and smiling at him, his heart throbbed and a smile raced onto his face. 

There was a strong urge in him to pull her away from the crowd and simply go for a walk in their own company. One on one, relying on each other. His heart tightened again. 

It wasn't always like this. In fact, it didn't seem like it would get like this from the beginning, they had a strained relationship from the get-to-go. They were always friendly but there was always a wall, something that would stop him from going any further and stop her from advancing any further. By all means, it even diminished the either of liking her in the first place. 

But slowly, that wall was broken down piece by piece with every day they spent together. 

There was no mistaking it. It had been a week since they met. A week since he first laid his eyes on her, a week since she moved into the palace with him, and a week in which he came to rely on her more than he would to his councilor. 

For that, he had to thank Boris, the force that always seemed to put him down when they seemed to have made progress. A force he had fought with for the duration of 2 weeks, plus the week in which he started to like Claudia. 

Every argument he would have with Boris would lead to him walking the halls for a few minutes or an hour or times, thinking about ways to reduce the friction in their relationships. It was also those arguments that led to him meeting Claudia more times than they agreed to meet in a week. Those two days they were supposed to spend together each week turned into every day.

In the middle of his work, his bickering and mulling over issues with Boris, and mourning his father, he would meet up with her and talk. They would meet multiple times in a day when he fought multiple times with Boris and at times even once in a day in which they would stay in each other's company for mere minutes or hours talking about their issues and comforting each other. 

The first time was a bit tense but the next, merely hours later was calmer, and times after that made him grow even more comfortable in her presence. Those cold eyes he had once peered into that seemed to sink into his, reading every emotion, every action, every movement of his, softened into a loving gaze that shined every time they locked eyes. 

Before he knew it they had gone from victims of an arranged marriage to acquaintances, to friends, and finally, to the cause of the throbs they felt in their hearts. 

Claudia blushed, bowing slightly. "Thank you, your highness."

"Dominic," Dominic replied.

"What?" Claudia retorted.

Dominic stepped closer to her, leaning into her face. She flinched, pulling back and avoiding his piercing emerald gaze. Her cheeks heated.

"Dominic, my princess. We agreed to call each other by our first names now," Dominic smiled. 

Claudia's eyes refused to look at Dominic. "Dom..."

"What was that?" Dominic pressed, teasingly.

Claudia shut her eyes and sighed. She sucked in a deep breath and turned to Dominic, locking eyes with him. "Dominic."

There was a thump in his heart and he grinned. "That's more like it..." he chuckled, pulling away from her and standing up straight. "...Claudia."

Claudia cleared her throat and lightly fanned her face.

It had been just a day since they went on a first-name basis and although they spent most of it in each other's presence, she still wasn't used to it. Her face still blushed and her heart still raced. It was a funny feeling, it wasn't even the first time she was called by her first name. It just sounded different when he said it, lighter, softer, and more calming. It was said so caringly. 

Dominic peeked down at her before facing forward, offering his elbow to her. She chuckled lightly, immediately slipping her arm into it. He smiled and began walking, leading her forward. 

Claudia looked up at him, and just like a magnet, he turned to her. 

"So, my prince, where will you be taking me now?" she asked playfully, "surely you do not plan on parading the room for the rest of the night. My legs will give out halfway through if that is your plan."

"Hmmmm," Dominic pondered for a second before nodding lightly at the crowd. "I doubt that we'll ever get a moment of peace after this, Claudia. The crowd must be filled with questions. They always are," he muttered with a light sigh before turning back to her with a smile, "it's only a matter of time before their patience break and they come rushing at us like a high wave in the middle of a storm."

Claudia giggled to Dominic's delight.

"I'm sure your boredom will be washed away in mere seconds or minutes," Dominic smiled. 

Claudia laughed again, this time nervously. "I'm not sure where to be happy or horrified."

"You can be both," Dominic retorted. 

"Agreed," Claudia nodded her head. 

They both burst into laughter and continued to walk forward. Claudia was about to make another comment when the movement of a figure behind her was brought to her attention. She stopped walking and turned around, her eyes looking up at the eyes peering down at her.

"And who is this, Dominic?" she asked as her gaze locked onto the figure.

"Hm? who do yo-" Dominic began, turning around to look at what Claudia had noticed. His voice trailed off to silence when he looked at the person behind him. Through long black locks of hair, golden rays pierced into his, forcing him into eye contact. 'Right....' he thought to himself. His gaze averted from the figure. 'Boris...'

A once forgotten weight returned to his shoulders. 

He looked down at Claudia who was looking back up at him with such clear, innocent eyes. He smiled. "Claudia, meet Boris, my guard," Dominic explained, grinning at Claudia. His smile slowly disappeared as his gaze redirected to the figure standing before him. "Boris, meet Princess Claudia. Princess of the Adria kingdom and..." his eyes looked up at the golden rays, they dimmed and released a harsh glare. "...my queen to be."

They remained in contact for a moment, the blank and cold stare of gold slowly being over-powered by emerald. 

Boris looked away from Dominic, his eyes lowering for a moment before he bent down, bowing before Claudia. "It's my utmost honor to entertain the presence of Princess Claudia."

Claudia peered down at his long waves of black hair that lowered to the ground, curtaining his face. She smiled. "Nice to meet you too... guard."

Dominic flinched, his eyes looked down at Boris who remained bowed. 'His hands...' he thought to himself as his eyes lowered to Boris' fists, the weight on his shoulder reappearing, this time accompanied by a strange pull in his chest. 'His hands are tightened...'

Boris stood up straight, his eyes locking with Claudia's. "The pleasure is mine, Princess Claudia."

Despite their greeting ending, Claudia remained locked with his eyes, her gaze staring steadily into his. A second passed, then another, then in another a flash of emotion passes by her face and she turns away from Boris as if tossing away an old shoe after observing it for a moment. 

She looked up at Dominic with a bright smile, her arms wrapped around his arm. "Then... shall we keep on going?" she giggled.

Dominic flinched, looking at Boris for a moment, his eyes traveling up from his still tightened fists to his face. He looked away before he could lock eyes with Boris. A smile appeared on his face when he locked eyes with Claudia. "Where do you want to go?" he asked. 

"Hmmm," Claudia thought for a moment before replying, "take me to your most trusted person! I want to get on the good side of every ally of my Dominic, I can't have them having second thoughts about their future Queen after all."

Dominic smiled, his hands raising up to her hair and ruffling it. "Ok then.." he muttered as he began to turn around. His eyes locked with Boris' for a brief moment before turning to face Claudia. His eyes dimmed. "Shall we continue?" he asked as he smiled. 

Claudia nodded her head, slipping away from Dominic's hold. "That is, if you get to them first," Claudia giggled, her pace increasing as she increased her distance between her and Dominic.

Dominic flinched, his pace quickening as he chased after Claudia. "Hold up!" a bright smile crept onto his face as he looked up at her figure. He followed quickly. 

Boris watched them as they ran forward, his eyes changing from Claudia to Dominic. He looked at his smile, one he didn't get to see from him ever since they met. He looked light. 'He looks happy...' Boris thought to himself.

He looked away from him sourly and looked at Claudia. "Princess Claudia huh..." he thought to himself as he watched the gold designs of her dress wave back and forth as she moved and inspected her grin when she looked at Dominic. 'There's something about her...' Boris thought to himself as he watched her. 'Her smile, her gaze... I hate them.'

He felt it when he locked eyes with her. The slow but apparent darkening in her gaze, the bright purple in her eyes dimming to a color close to the darkness of black. They felt threatening. Her eyes, her being. They were cold, each second in their hold seeming to condemn him and degrade him in such well-hidden jarring gaze. It felt like she was slowly reducing him to a common ant on the street from the moment she returned his greeting and in that final moment when she looked away, she stepped on him firmly, reducing him to dirt.

'That moment...' Boris thought to himself as he remembered the moment before she looked away. She scoffed. She had laughed at him. After staring him down like she was checking for any bad spots in an apple, she laughed slightly, looking away from him with eyes filled with disgust. Like he was rotten to the core. 

His heart throbbed as he looked up at Dominic who had finally caught up to her. He stepped forward, his steps quickening as he followed them. They were getting lost in the crowd, slipping away from his fingers. He was slipping away from his sight.

He clenched his jaw. He didn't like that.

Before long, he had pushed through the crowd and met up with Dominic and Claudia. He had looked up at them with a fierce gaze as they talked to the person in front of them, yet it didn't seem like he hadn't even met them. He wasn't noticed. 

His steps seemed to be part of the clattering of the crowd and his presence just another in the hundred in the room. He felt it again when he looked up at the backs of Dominic and Claudia. It was the pain he had felt when he had hugged Dominic. It stung with the same familiar feeling but this time it felt different. 

Claudia waved at the person before her as they walked away, Dominic's eyes fixed on her as she waved them goodbye. He smiled. 

"It seems like social events are your expertise, my princess," Dominic teased.

"One of the times I'm grateful I sat down through hours of lessons on how to address others in an official event," Claudia returned playfully. 

Boris stared at them for a moment. She knew he was there. He was sure of it, yet she didn't acknowledge his presence in the slightest, even going as far as to keep looking forward to avoid any chance Dominic might look back at him.

His eyes narrowed as his heart tightened. He didn't like it. He didn't like the way she looked down at him with such savage eyes and then looked up at Dominic with innocent smiles. He didn't like the way she was so stuck to him. She felt dangerous, like she was going to take something away from him.

"Your highness," the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

Dominic turned to him, a look of recognition on his face for a moment before it settled into a dimmed stare. 

Boris flinched. 

"Yes, Boris?" Dominic replied. 

Boris looked behind him to Claudia and then turned to Dominic who stared at him with an expectant, impatient gaze. 

"Kalmin, your highness," Boris pushed forward. "Kalmin requested for your audience after the first 20 minutes of touring, your highness. Remember?"

Dominic thought about it for a moment, his eyes widening a second later. "Right!" he exclaimed, immediately turning back to Claudia, an apologetic gaze forming on his face. "I'm so sorry Claudia, I completely forgot about my previous agreement with Kalmin. He had planned to take me around the room to meet other nobles. I'm afraid I have to go catch up with him, my princess."

Claudia looked up at him blankly for a moment, her eyes dimmed for the slightest moment before brightening again. Boris saw it. "is that so..." she muttered, her eyes lowering. 

"I'm sorry-"

"Your highness, we have to hurry," Boris urged, turning around to leave. 

Dominic did a quick bow before turning around and following Boris. 

"But..." Claudia muttered, her eyes looking up at Dominic as she stepped forward, her hands slipping into his. 

Dominic flinched, turning back to look at her. "Huh?"

Boris turned around, his eye twitching when he saw her hand holding tightly onto Dominic's. 

"But, I want more time with my prince. This is an event for our engagement, you mean to say he cannot spend time with me?" Claudia spat, her eye locking with Boris', "it seems like Kalmin is his advisor. He would agree with this argument."

Claudia pulled Dominic back. 

"I will stay with his highness."