The courting trap

The Ball

"And that woman with the big hat." I point. "She hates her husband, they only see each other at events."

"Victoria!" Mother's voice echoes. "You need to make your entrance, the guests have arrived. Mother is wearing a bright blue dress, with feathers in her hair.

"Alright." I sigh.

I position behind the closed double doors which the ballroom lays hidden behind. Estelle is right behind me and I feel her assuringly squeeze my hand.

The doors slowly open, a hundred eyes on me at once, "Crown princes, Victoria Catherina Levine the second." People clap and sounds of aw were heard for my dress.

Nicholas suddenly appears in my line of vision. He holds out his arm for me to grab and smiles. I take his arm, but whisper "What are you doing?"

"We got to act is if we are engaged you know?" His eyes travel down my dress as we stroll around the room.

"Yes, alright." I can't help but look at him. His hair is extra neat today, he is wearing a blue suit which is definitely his colour.

The people around me are all chatting, lots of ladies are following us with their eyes and whispering. People bow as we pass them.

"You look stunning." He suddenly says.

"What?" I flip my head to him in shock. It already feels unusual for us to walk interlinked, but for him to compliment me is on a whole different level.

He leans into my ear. "People are listening." His breath travels down my neck.

"Of course." I laugh awkwardly. "Thank you Nicholas." It feels weird thanking him. Obviously he did not give me an actual compliment, it is all an act.

His arm breaks away from mine, I turn around in confusion and at that moment he shoves a drink in my hand. "You will need it." He says as he takes a big gulp from his drink and interlinks our arms again.

I take a sip too and the bitter taste of wine fills my mouth.

"Good afternoon." A young man in a black suit to my right suddenly says.

"Good afternoon." I repeat.

"Would you mind if I borrowed her?" He asks Nicholas, who slowly takes another sip without taking his eyes off the man.

"Of course not." He breaks the awkward silence, sounding very unamused. He rips his arm from mine and takes my glass, "I will hold onto it."

God no. I wish the man would ask me, not the man I happen to be with. I don't want to, but we are taught not to decline.

"Alright, thank you." I hand my glass over to Nicholas and leave for the dance floor with the man whose name I do not know.

"My name's Thomas. You are looking divine tonight." He grabs my hand and holds my waist as we start dancing to the music.

"You don't look too bad yourself." It's not a lie, he is handsome.

He laughs and a strand of blond hair falls in his face. He looks like an angel.

He spins me around and my hair flips in my own face. He helps me push the hair out of my face. I swear he looked down at my lips.

Through the crowd I meet Nicholas' eyes, someone is trying to have small talk with him, but his full attention is on me. The man gives up and walks away.

I see a girl trying to talk to him now, he bluntly ignores her.
The song comes to an end. Thomas nods, and walks me back over to Nicholas. The girl has disappeared before I arrived.

"It was lovely dancing with you, your highness." He kisses my hand, does a nod to Nicholas but quickly leaves.

Nicholas watches how Thomas disappears in the crowd. "What a coward. Couldn't even look me in the eye." He snorts.

"Maybe if you didn't look at him like you want to kill him, he would actually look at you." I grab Nicholas' arm again. "Where is my glass?"

"I was thirsty."

"Victoria!" Mothers heals click on the ground as she walks up to us. "It's time to dance now." She puts her hand on each of our shoulders. "Go!" She pushes us towards the dance floor. He leads me to the middle of it, everyone clears the floor and the voices quiet down. They all watch in anticipation.

He holds out his left hand for me to grab. Once again there is ink on the side of his hand. I slowly grab his hand and put my other hand on his shoulder, he looks down at the contact.

His hand snakes around my waist as he looks at me in a way that makes me a little timid.

The music starts playing and he leads me across the room. "Wait until the moment is right." He says.

"Okay." I whisper. He lifts me in the air, like I weigh nothing. He brings me down slowly as I keep my eyes on him.

"I can't wait until I get out of here." He says as he spins me around.
"Stop that." He then whisper-shouts.

It's then that I realise I was pressing my nails in his hand. "I can't wait either." I grit.

"Great." He clenches his jaw. He roughly pulls me with him and I trip over my feet.

"Watch out." I push his shoulder. He then spins me around too quickly and I almost loose my balance. "You are so irritating, I can't wait until I never have to see you again." I spit.

"The feelings mutual, love." He smiles evilly. It's then that I have decided I have had enough.

I stomp on his foot as hard as I can. "Bloody hell!" He yells. We stop dancing and the music comes to an abrupt stop.

"Oh dear!" Mother runs up to us. "She was not paying attention!" She laughs with the crowd. "Come with me you two." Her smile fades and her eyes send me daggers.

She takes us to the dining hall, away from any potential eavesdroppers.

"I know what you were trying to do." She makes us sit down while she stands up, making her even more intimidating. "You would be foolish to think it would work."

"That what would work?" I ask not-so-innocently.

"Don't act like I am stupid child." She points in my face. "Your fathers and I have decided," With that she means she has decided, "that you two should spend more time together. So from now on, you will spend every day together up until the wedding and there is no getting out of this."

"But-" I start.

"-No." Mother cuts me off, I don't want to hear it anymore. With that she heads back to the ball, leaving us alone.

"This is your fault." Nicholas frowns as he gets up, slams the door and leaves me behind.

I hate him.