*Alexius*

*Alexius*

We arrived late last night in Anigriv. While the trip by sea was anything but comfortable, I am told that she will be worth it.

Who is she? Well she is the Princess of Anigriv. Described by all who have seen her as the most divine woman they have ever seen. She is the only reason I agreed to this arrangement with her puny little father and his Kingdom. The king and his wife have made names for themselves as being everything vile in a human being, but there are whispers around the lands of believing that some how the Princess could never be related to them.

A sudden knock on the bedroom door startled me out of my thoughts. "Who is it?" I holler.

"Sir it's me." Wesley, my second in command answers. I open my door for him to come inside. He looks around the room and whistles.

"Man, they are really trying to butter you up aren't they?" He laughs. "Let me guess the toilet even wipes your ass for you?"

I chuckle at his words. "Well looks like there is actually something they don't have in this room".

"Aw that's too bad. Poor you." He says as he takes a seat on the sofa in the small living area within the room.

"Well judging by the fact that I don't want anyone's hands near my asshole, I would find it very lucky." I quickly retort. "Did you follow my instructions?"

"Yes Sir. To the T to be exact. What exactly is the deal with the dress though?" He says scratching his head with a confused look.

"Well there are a few reasons, the main one being I would like to know who she is right away without having someone introduce us. I'd like for her to meet me before she hears of the deal." I explain my reasoning.

He nods his head in agreement. "Well that reason makes sense, but what possibly could be the other reasons?"

I look at him incredulously. "Did you even look at the dress? If she's even half as beautiful as everyone says she is then this dress on her might just create the most beautiful sight I've ever seen."

This earns a belly laugh from Wesley. "Dude, you are supposedly this big tough King, but you are a romantic at heart!"

"I think I've had enough of your nonsense for now. Why don't you go get back to your job and let me get ready in peace." I tell him.

Wesley begrudgingly gets up from the couch and walks to the door. "I hope it all works out." He says quickly before I see him walk swiftly through the door.

Walking over to the supplied liquor cabinet I pour myself a glass of Makers. Gulping it down in one go, I can feel the warmth spread through my system. I would never tell anyone this, but I am actually a little nervous to meet the princess. I'm never nervous about anything, but hearing how beautiful and how pure she is, it just does something to me. Almost as if it's too good to be true.

Pulling myself out of my thoughts once again I grab my suit that is lying on the bed and start getting dressed for the ball tonight. I decided to go with a black tux, my vest and tie are the same color blue as the dress that I purchased for the Princess. I look in the mirror as I comb my black hair back. Making sure everything looks good I make my way out of my room through the corridor that leads to the ballroom.

Walking down the corridor I hear a mans voice and it stops me in my tracks. "Well well well...If it isn't little Princess Avalyn all grown up." he says. I quickly hide behind a pillar so neither one of them sees me. I quickly look to see where the voice came from and my heart stops in my chest when my eyes fall upon her. Avalyn, oh how true all the things that were said about her were. At least about her looks. Her golden blonde hair is pulled up and cascading with curls. The dress I picked out for her complements her bronzed skin perfectly and fits her like a glove. I see her look at the man and after a brief moment of looking confused, her beautiful hazel eyes went wide as saucers and she got this time-stopping smile on her face.

"Andrew?!" she shrieks as she throws her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a hug. She looks so utterly filled with joy and I can feel my blood start to heat up at the thought of her touching another man. "What are you doing here? I thought you were away at school? How long have you been back?" she bombards him with questions. I could listen to her voice all day long, however not to her speaking to another man. I have to take deep breaths in order to try to calm myself down.

"Whoah there, slow down with the questions will ya?" he says laughing was he returns her hug. I see him turn his head so that he rests his cheek on top of it and it takes everything in me not to walk over there and break the two apart. "I missed you little brat." I hear him say quietly. Fortunately for me he unentangles himself from their embrace and takes her by the arm as a gentleman should. I let out a sigh of relief. "What do you say I walk you down to this ball?" I hear him ask her. I hear her say yes but as they turn towards the stairs I can no longer hear what they are saying to each other. As they start to descend down the stairs I inch my way closer until I am at the bannister at the top. Making myself invisible to their line of sight I continue to watch the interaction between the two. They continue talking for a minute or two until he says something that makes her laugh. I could listen to her laugh all day long for the rest of my life. It was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I quietly laughed myself as I saw her reach her hand out and ruffle it though his perfectly combed blonde hair and make it a mess. But when I saw her blow him a kiss it made my laughing cease entirely. Who is this man? How close is he to the princess and do I have something to worry about? Looks like I will have to do some investigating myself. I make a mental note to have Wesley find out everything he can about this man. I just have to find out his last name.

I remove myself from my hiding spot and make my decent down the stairs quickly. I see the man she was with look up and study me as I was walking down the stairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs he was still looking at me so I walked right up to him, towering a one him by a good four inches. "Hello, I am Alexius Basileus. And you are?" I introduce myself and stick my hand out to shake his hand. He gives he hand and keeps eye contact. "I am Andrew Casteori. It's nice to meet you." he says politely.

I remove my hand from our shake and put my hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Casteori, would you like to walk over to the bar with me and have a drink? I will be in this kingdom for a little while and I would love to learn more from a friendly face." I say giving him a warm smile. He looks at me a little wary and seems to be weighing out his options until it seems that he thought it was safer to accept my offer.

"Sure, Mr... " he pauses trying to remember my last name. "Basileus? Is that as in King Basileus?" his face drains of color as he realizes who I am.

"Yes, that would be me." I chuckle. "Mr. Casteori, why do you look as though you have seen a ghost?" I ask him outwardly showing concern while inwardly I was cheering.

Andrew audibly gulped. "No reason sir. I just...uh....just wanted to know who I would be filling in about our kingdom. Surely there are better people suited to educate you about our kingdom. Why would you want me to do it?" he asks confused.

"You seem like a friendly enough person," I start. "I have also seen you speaking with the Princess, so I know you know the royal family at least a little well. I would like to know more about them before I entertain any deals or treaties with them in the future." I reason.

His eyes go wide. "I really don't know how much I can help you King Basileus. I have been away for the last four and a half years and have only returned today."

Getting a little impatient with his cowardliness I turn so that if we were the same height we would be nose to nose. Looking down at him I bring my voice down to only a little above a whisper. "Then tell me Andrew, how is it that you know the Princess well enough for her to throw her arms around you?"

His eyes go wide at this statement but then his face turns red in anger. "You were spying on us?"

I turn my head dismissively. "I wouldn't call it spying if you were in an open corridor that I happened to be walking down as well. Now again Andrew, I will ask one more time. Would you like to have a drink with me?"

He straightened himself up and turned in the direction of the doors leading into the ball room, "It would be a pleasure King Basileus. Would you like me to introduce you to Princess Avalyn?"

I matched his stride as well walked into the ballroom. "That won't be necessary Andrew. I will meet her in due time." I answered dismissively.