Prince Kelton sighed as Hanston finished the final adjustments to his vestments.

“I hope you can enjoy yourself tonight, Your Majesty,” Hanston said softly.

“As much as I can, Hanston. Thank you.”

“It’s been my pleasure.”

Prince Kelton nodded then left the room.

The ballroom was heavy with decoration. The chandeliers had been cleaned and silks of every color adorned the ceiling and walls. Tables of appetizers and beverages bordered the room. The ambiance was lost in the cacophony of voices and music. Kelton tried not to look frustrated when he entered the room. He hoped, with the help of Hamnet and Droyn, to finally sift the lies from the truth. Finally see these women for who they were instead of who they pretended to be the whole time he had interacted with them. One measure he never had to take with Lady Iredys.

Prince Kelton mingled some, glad to see Sir Hamnet and Sir Droyn in the matching vestments. He greeted his knights as he had seen them greet each other. They played along, their smiles growing. They were going to enjoy this. The music changed and some of the noblemen extracted a few of the ladies from the crowd to dance. Prince Kelton, Sir Droyn, and Sir Hamnet followed. Prince Kelton asked telling questions of the ladies he danced with. They played coy at first, seeing if they really knew who was under the mask, but the longer he feigned confusion the sooner they started divulging their true thoughts. It was worse than he thought.

Duchess Penelope was paranoid that all of those who were servants were stealing the expensive dishes and replacing them with cheap look-alikes. Marquess Jemina felt it prudent to have no associations with the common people. She felt they were worse than the servants and were not worthy to have any such attention from her. Princess Analisa’s attitudes had not changed over the last five years, which only brought him minimal relief. There was a stiff strictness about her that could be useful while in court. However, if that stiff strictness carried over into their private interactions, he doubted he could handle it for long.

Duchess Harriett complained that the heavily adorned dress she was wearing wasn’t fancy enough. The fabric wasn’t soft enough, but, “all that would change once the prince married her. Then she would have riches enough to buy all the cloth and adornments she wanted”. To top it off Countess Gracilina would see half of Timberwood Forest destroyed in order to expand the castle for her own private use. He bit his tongue, grateful that the song finally ended. He needed a drink. He had barely poured himself a cup when Sir Hamnet stepped up beside him

“Are you planning to sneak off, Sir Hamnet?” he inquired softly.

“Don’t tempt me,” he nearly growled.

“Oh? Is there some mysterious woman waiting for you out there that you have yet to tell me about?”

Prince Kelton’s lips twitched as he thought of Lady Iredys. She had not come down to join the festivities tonight. Not that he blamed her. There was enough intrigue going on in this room that it might just send her into a fit, if it hadn’t already.

“Sir Hamnet?” Sir Hamnet asked.

“My apologies, Sire. Indeed there is such a woman,” Kelton replied quietly, struggling to lift his depressed mood. “I wished to wait until I felt it appropriate to ask for your blessing.”

Sir Hamnet’s smile grew as he clapped Prince Kelton on the shoulder. “Then I shall happily wait for that moment.”

Prince Kelton nodded then scanned the crowd of noble men and women. “Now,” he sighed, after finishing his drink. “Who haven’t I conversed with yet?”

“I believe the shy Countess Lilia has yet to be asked to dance with you,” Sir Hamnet replied.

“Then dance she shall.”

Kelton set the glass down then weaved his way across the ballroom to Countess Lilia. She was soft spoken and always sought approval. She had flirted with him the least when they spent the day together. A definite lack of confidence in herself that was not really suited for the woman who would become Queen. He bowed to her and she curtsied.

“Would My Lady care to dance?” he asked.

“Certainly, Sir Knight,” she replied.

She took his arm and they walked out to the dance floor. Prince Kelton danced with Countess Lilia for a little while before he engaged her in conversation.

“Can I get your opinion about our Prince, Countess Lilia?”

“My opinion, Sir Knight?”

“Yes.”

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“He is strong. Stern. Kind, but….” Her cheeks flushed a deep red.

“But?” he prompted.

“I do not wish to speak ill of him. I just… do not know how I would feel to have him choose me.”

“Why is that? …You have my confidence that anything you say will not be repeated to His Highness.”

“He doesn’t seem to enjoy himself. It’s like his mind is elsewhere. He is polite, but… I do not sense any softness in him.”

Prince Kelton smiled. “A good front sternness can be, My Lady. It protects what he holds most dear from those who would try and exploit him, but given privacy and the opportunity to relax, you would find the man much softer than he appears.”

“And how would you know this about your Lord, Sir Knight?”

“Because I knew Prince Kelton long before I joined his knights.”

She smiled. “It helps to hear that.”

He smiled back.

They bowed to each other as the song ended.

He walked her off to the side just to have Duke Grantip ask her to dance.

Being able to talk candidly with Countess Lilia was refreshing. Given some education and time to observe the interactions of court, she might do better than he initially thought. He knew, because of her gentle temperament, that he wouldn’t have to worry about possible restrictions to their interactions while they were alone. That alone topped a political alliance anyday for him. He scanned the room, watching Sir Hamnet and Sir Droyn dancing with some of the other ladies. Many he wished he could marry off before himself just so they couldn’t cause a ruckus.

However, he knew the likelihood of that was small. Still, that did not stop him from turning his attention to the Lords, Dukes, and Earls in the room. See if any of them had a certain lady that he fancied. Marriage perhaps not. Betrothal, however, perhaps. He did his best to make mental notes as to which man liked which woman, but as he tried to run the information through his mind again, he drew a blank.

Sighing, he rubbed his forehead. Why did he feel like he couldn’t think straight anymore? Had he had too much to drink, despite swearing off alcohol? Was the thought of marrying someone other than Lady Iredys so horrid to him that he could only feel helpless about the decision he needed to, but could not, make? He was still trying to settle his mind when the tapping of the Herald’s heavy staff silenced the music and the buzz of conversation. Everyone turned their attention to Queen Leona as she stood to address the room.

“As we near the end of the night, I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate Prince Kelton’s birthday. It has been a most joyous evening.”

Many in the crowd raised glasses and voices in agreement.

“An evening most joyously concluded with the announcement of Prince Kelton’s bride to be!”

More cheers.

“Prince Kelton, if you would present yourself.”

Prince Kelton, Sir Hamnet, and Sir Droyn made their way out of the crowd. They looked at each other in confusion. Getting close to one another to see who the impostors were. The three of them struggled against each other trying to climb the stairs to the thrones. Just as Sir Hamnet reached the top, Sir Droyn kicked him in the behind causing him to tumble down the stairs. The Lords and Ladies laughed, but Queen Leona looked less than amused as Prince Kelton broke free of Sir Hamnet’s hold and sent Sir Droyn down the stairs with a kick.

Sir Droyn jumped to his feet. Both he and Sir Hamnet looked as if they were going to try again as Prince Kelton straightened his vestments. He stepped towards Sir Hamnet in an intimidating manner. He did the same to Sir Droyn since he dared try to step up once more. The laughter from the Lords and Ladies continued. When he was satisfied that they would stay down, he nodded. Sir Droyn and Sir Hamnet bowed to Prince Kelton then faced the crowd.

As one, the three of them removed their masks. Several ladies’ jaws dropped once they realized it really was Prince Kelton on the top stair and not Sir Hamnet. He smiled, stifling his laugh when they clamped their jaws shut, flicked their fans open, and set them a flutter as they tried to cool their embarrassed flush.

“I want to begin by thanking Sir Hamnet and Sir Droyn for their obedience in playing my doppelgangers,” Prince Kelton said. “I do not believe that the purpose of a masked ball would have been accomplished otherwise.”

Queen Leona looked at him disapprovingly.

Prince Kelton did not acknowledge the glance, but continued. “At the very least, this has been an entertaining evening. …Ladies, I thank you for your candor. I appreciate finally being able to see the faces behind the masks that have been worn all week and have been given a lot to think about. As it has been a very long night for all of us, I think it is only fair that we retire for the night. I look forward to formally announcing my choice in the morning.”

Satisfied that his answer would somewhat appease Queen Leona, Prince Kelton descended the stairs. He quickly and decidedly left the ballroom, not bothering to look back as the murmur of voices started to grow in volume. He did his best to pace himself, so it did not look like he was running away from giving everyone an answer. None of them needed to know how much he really wanted to never see the majority of their faces ever again.

Once he was out of the ballroom, he hurried down the halls to Lady Iredys’ chambers. After how this week had gone, he wanted nothing more than to re-consummate his marriage to Iredys. He knocked on the door to her room, then bounced on the balls of his feet while he waited for Ponderosa to open the door. He was trying to calm himself down since he had no idea how Iredys’ week had been. She may not even be able to accept such a move on his part. Prince Kelton blew out his breath and shook out his arms and hands.

When Ponderosa finally opened the door, she did so cautiously at first, but then opened it wider to allow him in. He stepped in with a nod then waited for his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room, which further calmed his desire to rush to Iredys’ side and embrace her. Once his eyes had adjusted, he noticed Lady Iredys sitting in the armchair beside the fire. He approached after a minute and sat on the couch beside her.

“Will you speak with me awhile, Iredys?” he requested gently.

She turned her blind eyes toward him. ‘What do you wish to speak about, My Lord?’

He grimaced. “Will you please drop the honorifics? We know each other better than that.”

Iredys nodded.

Prince Kelton studied her expressionless face then lowered his head. “You still haven’t seen the two of us together, have you?” he asked softly.

‘Correct.’