Royal Court Of England
Princess Josette's 18th Birthday Celebration
"Dearest Josette, we have someone we would love for you to meet" My mother spoke, her dazzling smile spread across her face as she turned to a young, light haired man, not much older than I "Jo, this is Prince Stephan of Holland. He had come as a possible suitor for you, dear, but of course that is not the importance of your meeting" Lie "Stephan's parents and your father and I just want the two of you to get to know each other. If anything, you will with both gain a new friendship" I wish I could say my mother actually meant what she was saying. She truly just wants a strong alliance, and I'm assuming, seeing how hard she is trying to her Stephan and I to become friends, this is a very strong possible alliance "Of course, mother" I smiled, my eyes drifting towards Stephan "Stephan, should we go sit down and get to know each other? We could get some tea, or we could try this new Ethiopian drink called coffee. I've heard it's quite delightful. Some even say addicting" i sweetly smiled, knowing my careless chatter would delight my mother "Well, your highness, I was thinking that maybe we could dance. My father sent over some musicians to play some music from my home in Holland. It's quite the catch. I promise that it's even more addicting than coffee" Stephan spoke nervously "Well then, if your father made sure to send a price of your home to England, I must accept your offering" I smiled before Stephan led me towards the dance floor. I did a small curtesy before I heard an upbeat tune begin to play. Not exactly something I'm used to dancing to, but I grabbed Stephan hand anyway, as his other one snaked around my waist. As we began to dance, many eyes began to fall on the Prince of Holland and myself. He led me back and forth as we danced to the unfamiliar music playing. He dragged his hand over the bare skin of my shoulder as I sweetly smiled to him before looking down and letting out a deep breath that I have been holding in all night. For a prince, Stephan is quite the nervous and gentle fellow. Most princes come in parading around how handsome and wealthy they-Well, their families are. I'm definitely not saying I don't enjoy Stephan's politeness, but it's just unusual for a prince to be so timid. As we danced around, my eyes drifted to that familiar head of curly blonde hair. Francis conversed with a group of well-respected men here at the English Court. I focused again on dancing until I noticed Francis walk over to Mary, who was previously speaking with one of our many English envoys. This one in particular is quite new to the job, so new I haven't gotten the chance to learn his name quite yet. Point here is, I really don't know why he would be in the position yet to converse with other royals. Usually, envoys go through much more training before actually beginning their task full work. Mary looked over at Francis, making brief eye contact as he dismissed himself from the men and began speaking with her. The music ended as I refocused my attention to Stephan and bowed before him once, him then doing the same for me. I do thank my parents for always trying to find a nice suitor for me, but it just gets overwhelming sometimes. All of the suitors I have met have mostly all treated me nicely, but who wouldn't? I have the bloodline of the Holy Roman Emperor. If I wanted, I could have a ride suitor's life absolutely ruined, possibly even ended. So, of course that will be all kind to my and my family. One significant thing that crosses my mind every single time I meet a suitor is just 'What if he's just putting on this nice gentleman act, and the second he actually gets a title in my country, his nice guy act falls?' Something I definitely do not want to find out. I turned my head back to Francis and Mary who were over on the side of the ballroom harmlessly speaking to each other. If I want to be with Francis, I have to accept that he is an arranged engagement with Mary and I can not control that. I will just have to let time take its course. I turned to the crowd again, holding my glass of wine as Stephan picked up his, standing up straight next to me. My eyes came in contact with Francis, who is still talking to Mary, although his eyes drifted past her and met with mine. An exuberant smile spread across both of our faces as our eyes let. I just can't help but fall farther and farther for Francis every time I look into his beautiful eyes. Mary must've noticed Francis' elsewhere eye line because she turned around following his gaze, landing on me. I lightly smiled at her as she gave what was barely a smile back. I then looked down and began trying to find literally anything else in this room that could possibly be interesting to focus on. Anything to get me away from this awkward eye contact "Did I mention you look absolutely stunning tonight?" Stephan spoke, seeming to come out of his shell a tad. I mentally thanked Stephan for not making me awkwardly wander my eyes to a old contact with Mary's "Thank you, dear Stephan. I appreciate your compliment very much. More than you know" I smiled up to the tall, light haired boy beside me "I'm sorry, Miss, but is there something I'm missing here?" Stephan questioned "What do you mean?" Maybe he's not as clueless as I originally thought "Princesses don't just dawn over random men, especially when they are the prince of France" Stephan suddenly became confident in his words for the first time tonight, which I am more than happy to witness "You caught me?" I said, coming out more like a question than anything. Was it that obvious? "So, I have a feeling you aren't really into the whole 'meeting a suitor each day' deal. You're more of a 'I like this that I've known forever' kind of girl'" I have no idea how he knows the backstory here, maybe it's just a good guess based on what he has heard, but he is exactly right "You know, Stephan, I thought you were oddly quiet and squeamish at first, but now I have come to realize that you seem to understand me more than anyone I know" I smiled at the boy before me "I try my best" He snickered "Maybe my mother was right" I smiled up at Stephan "About what? Because I'm sure she wasn't right about the part where you and I get married and run off into the sunset" Stephan laughed, causing me to join in with him. He sure does get pretty darn funny when you actually get to know him "No, no!" I laughed "I meant the part where if anything, we get a good friendship out of this. Whether she meant our counties or us, I think you and I could be great friends" "Me too, Prin-" "No, no, call me Josie. Friends don't call their other friends by their formal name" "Well, Josie, I am glad to be your friend" "Likewise"