The autumn ball

The autumn Ball festivities were grand, lavish and pompous. Only the country's exclusive elite were invited - and of course the Ildregan royal family and their delegation.

The large ballroom of the palace, which could speak for itself even without decoration, was almost overloaded with golden ornaments, silk scarves and floral arrangements. It felt like Jane Austen had puked into this hall.

The guests were no less overloaded with jewelry and decorations. Intricate embellishments were sewn into their expensive fabrics, making their dresses look heavy. The women's necks and ears were hung with big diamonds. Everything seemed to glitter and shine.

I suddenly felt rather puny in my simple clothes as a palace guard.

Don't get me wrong: the palace guards' uniforms were beyond exquisite. The pure white, starched fabric clung to the body in the most comfortable way and the red jacket was also decorated with some beautiful embroidery. Nevertheless, the uniforms looked a bit simpler and more reserved compared to the almost obtrusive clothes of the guests.

Not that i would have liked to swap places with them, but inside me there was still this feminine urge to dance through the hall with the prince in a ball gown and to be admired by everyone.

But here... in this epoch... i would probably only be looked at as a fool. Unintentionally I pouted a little.

Of course I would also like to dance, but I was here as a guard and not as a guest. I couldn't just ignore my duties. That would result in at least one flogging.

"Why are you making such a sad face? Do you want to dance too?" Suddenly a cheeky voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Uh, what?" I said startled.

Prince Cain had somehow managed to sneak up next to me unnoticed. He was the eye-catcher in the whole hall, so i was surprised that i hadn't even felt his presence until just now.

He wore a black fitted suit that showed off his muscles in a subtle way. Blood-red details could be seen on his lapels and sleeves. He looked delicious. I had to be careful not to start drooling in front of the entire room. He wore his clothes like he was doing them a favour.

"I asked if you wanted to dance too." Prince Cain repeated with a mischievous grin.

He caught me with the question. He was right. i wanted to dance. Even though I had my last dance lesson when I was eleven. I could probably still manage a waltz though.

From the cheeky grin on Cain's face, I could tell that he already knew what I wanted.

He looked very exuberant. The stress of the preparations must have subsided a bit by now. It was either that or it was the expensive wine he had already downed. Anyway, he looked a little more composed than in the past few weeks. Somehow that made me happy. I didn't like to see it when he wasn't doing so well.

"Even if I wanted to dance... I suppose there wouldn't be a woman at this ball who would deign to dance with a guard instead of all the nobles here." I resumed the conversation before my pause for thought became too long.

"Who said you have to dance with a woman?"

"But-"

"Would you do me the honor?" Cain asked, bowing slightly as he held out his hand to me.

"But Your Highness! We can't do that!"

"Why? Because it's eccentric? Because nobody's ever done it before? Because maybe it's even a bit... crazy? Sounds just like me, doesn't it?" He said, grabbing my hesitant hand and, despite my protests, pulling me onto the center of the dance floor.

Just at that moment, the orchestra struck a beat to a waltz and we began to move somewhat awkwardly. Well... at least I got off to a rocky start. Cain's movements were smooth and impeccable - as always.

He guided me and after a while it got easier. Mainly because my muscle memory had reactivated.

"Your Highness! Everyone is staring at us..." I remarked, slightly ashamed when i noticed the attentive looks of the ball guests. They even stopped dancing, just to look at us. My cheeks were already bright red.

"Let them stare. They've probably never seen two handsome boys at once."

"What about Ildrega... o-or your father?"

"Oh, I'd better show them where they're at before my father sells me off to this bratty kid." said Cain dismissively.

"Is that why you were so depressed? Did your father really want you to marry the Princess of Ildrega?"

"Somebody must have done their homework." Cain smirked, "I was actually hoping to keep that as a secret, but lately I've seen you with all these books and reports. I thought you'd find out eventually. You're a lot too curious for your own good, Chris." He just sighed with a smile while suddenly spinning me around in an exciting motion.

The longer I danced with him, the more I forgot about the world around me. It was just the two of us. It almost felt as if we were floating through the hall. A little smile stole onto my lips. It was really fun. I could feel my heart fluttering.

The delicate music of the violins reached my ears and made me intoxicated. I hadn't heard any music for so long. The last time at the summer festival Cain had dragged me to.

And I had to admit that I missed the music.

This was only for special occasions. After all, you couldn't always hear it when you wanted to. There was neither a gramophone nor a cellphone on which you could play your music whenever you wanted. Music was a luxury here. Expensive and rare. That's why I enjoyed it even more.

"Now you're smiling again," Cain remarked, "I don't like it when you're sad. Promise me that you'll always come to me when you're not feeling well, okay? Then I can comfort you. I can make you feel a lot better." He said with a mischievous wink that immediately made me blush.

"Y-you can't just say that! What if someone hears us?"

"Do you think I'm really afraid of my reputation getting worse? Because then I certainly wouldn't be doing this..." Cain said, suddenly grabbing my face with both hands and kissing me in front of the assembled company. A sudden murmur and whisper went through the crowd.

I widened my eyes and tried to push myself away from him, but to no avail. The prince's grip was firm and strong. He wanted to show that I was his. He wanted to show everyone what he was.

Shortly thereafter, the music stopped playing, which I only noticed marginally, because my blood was pounding in my ears.

"C-cain stop mph-"

Cain smothered my protest with a much more intimate kiss. I almost had the feeling that he wanted to eat me.

As much as I liked that kiss, I felt uncomfortable doing it in front of such a large crowd. And not only that: the king and the Ildregan family must have seen it. And as if that wasn't enough, I also knew for certain that Jon and Armon were also assigned to be security guards and were probably watching all of this right now.

I haven't told them about Cain and me yet. I wanted to tell them. I really wanted them to know...but not like this...

I wanted to sink into the ground in shame.

It would have been something else if it had only been a little peck on the lips. But it was a full, intense kiss that was driving me insane. Through my startled gasping, he easily got into my mouth with his tongue. I felt myself slowly getting weak and melting into Cain's grasp. I held onto his clothing with a shaky grip for a little more support.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Cain looking down at me in satisfaction and then glaring at his father with a crooked smirk on his lips.

His father just looked at him in horror. The queen, who was sitting next to his throne, also gaped in shock.

That would probably have consequences...