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An Exchange of Information
"Would you like to dance?"
I sighed down at the lemon cake in my hand, before reluctantly turning in the direction the voice had come from. Carmine Asaro stood beside me, looking rather bored of the entire night. Glad I'm not the only one.
I nodded mutely, giving my lemon cake one last longing look as I set the entire plate down on the hors d'oeuvres table. It would likely be discarded by a servant before I could make it back to eat it. He held out his arm for me to take.
As he led me to the dance floor, I worked to keep the frown from my face.
I usually rather enjoyed balls and dancing. Attending them was one of the few actually fun responsibilities as a royal, but I couldn't shake that sour feeling that had been twisting in my heart over the past few days. As if there was something missing that I just couldn't place. Not to mention, I had only just escaped from dancing with the black haired man from my table at the feast. The man, who I learned was named Giulio, spent the entirety of the dance prattling on about the various ins and outs of the modern spice trade. He was the only heir to the Maio Trading Company, and seemed to think that everyone needed to know it. Whether they wanted to, or not.
Carmine found a spot for us near the edge of the swarm of waiting dancers, and let our arms drop. I smoothed out the skirts of my dress.
Ava had exchanged the lilac and pearl gown I had worn to the feast, for an indigo number with layers of chiffon skirts that twirled out around me in a dance. My hair was still pulled tightly back, but instead of the bun I had sported earlier, my hair was left to flow down from the ponytail in soft curls that tickled my bare shoulders when I moved my head. The dainty pearl tiara was replaced by a larger diamond and amethyst piece.
Carmine's hands found my waist as the music began, and we moved as one to the familiar beat. After a moment, he spoke, tilting his head down slightly, "Is it me, or do these things get more dull with each passing year?"
I couldn't keep the smile from my lips, glancing up at him, "Something like that."
His responding smile brought out dimples in his cheeks that I had never noticed before. I swallowed, looking away quickly.
I had known Carmine nearly his entire life. The Asaro family spent almost triple the amount of time here, at our castle, than in their own estate in the lands they govern, and our families got along quite well. But, I had never felt so strange in his presence before, never looked at him twice.
Now, I couldn't help from noticing all of the similarities he shared with the man I couldn't get out of my head. Or, perhaps it was because I couldn't keep him from my mind that I was finding so many resemblances. There was nothing I could do to stop the comparisons from forming. His eyes were a shade lighter than Angelo's, but just as bright. His hair was a hint darker, but the curls looked nearly as soft.
I found myself wondering what he was doing right then.
Was he at another meeting, deciding which innocent lives to destroy next? Was he with his mysterious family? Or was he at the lake, sitting in the dark, watching the fish jump in the moonlight reflecting off the surface of the water? Was he thinking of me too? Did he ever?
I stopped that thought process right there, before I get any closer to becoming one of the sniveling, love-sick simpletons I swore to never be. It was pointless, anyway. Angelo and I couldn't be together, not now, likely not ever. Any time spent wondering about his feelings for me, would be time wasted. It would be better for everyone if I tried to forget him.
I only wished that it were that easy.
Carmine was a much more skilled dancer than Giulio Maio had been, but all the same, I found myself counting down the seconds until the end of the song so I could put some distance between us. When the end finally came, I politely thanked him for the dance before scurrying quickly away before he could respond.
I was headed back for the dessert table, when a familiar voice met my ears and immediately set my skin to crawling despite the compliment in his words, "Princess Giuliana, you are a vision this evening."
I turned to him, resisting the urge to take up a defensive stance right there in the middle of the ball. "Ambassador Bruhn, was it?" He was wearing a similar blue and red uniform to the one he had been wearing the day we had met in the hall of windows, but it was the man at his side that piqued my curiosity. It was the man who had been sitting beside Prince Michael during the feast, the one with the blue eyes and dimpled chin who had been sneaking glances at me throughout. Because he was human, I had assumed that he was associated with Prince Michael, but as I looked between the two men before me, I realized my assumption had been very wrong.
"Yes, Princess," he dipped in the shallowest of bows, "And may I introduce Prince Bren of Geistreich?"
I turned my attention back to his companion, though his face was momentarily hidden behind his chestnut hair as he bowed lower than the ambassador had, despite his title. The human royal family of Lupia never bowed to their shifter counterparts, to see him bent in submission was jarring in its bizzarity. "A pleasure to meet you," he said pleasantly, with a subtle glance in the ambassador's direction. His accent was much thicker than Ambassador Bruhn's, but he spoke clearly and confidently, regardless.
I eyed them carefully, "Prince Bren Manly? The crown prince of the humans of Geistreich?" I was careful to pronounce the word as Bernd Bruhn had done.
"Yes, your Highness," he seemed somewhat surprised that I had even heard of him. He paused only for a moment, voice tainted with uncertainty, "May I have this dance?"
Torn between my curiosity for this strange foreign prince and my desire to find a quiet corner to hide with a lemon cake until an acceptable hour to retire to my room, I hesitated a moment. Because this was the first time a human royal from Geistreich had visited in decades, curiosity eventually won out, and I gave him a small smile, "Of course."
I took his offered arm, allowing him to lead me back onto the dance floor I had only just escaped. His body was tense, when he finally pulled to a stop and we waited for the music to begin anew. I was curious about the human before me, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about striking up a conversation.
Luckily, I didn't need to.
As the music began and he expertly swept us both into the crowd of dancing bodies, he spoke softly, though I had no trouble hearing him, "Are all Lupians so educated on my kingdom, or just their princess?"
I smiled politely, as I spun around him in time with the rest of the women on the dance floor. "I'm afraid names are the extent of my knowledge."
He flashed pearly white teeth, "That's likely for the best."
"Is that so?"
He hesitated, then his smile turned sly, "Let's just say, that Geistreich isn't quite as civilized as your country, despite what Ambassador Bruhn might have you believe," Images of the charred buildings of Alano flashed through my mind, but I didn't correct him. He quickly changed the topic, "Besides, my family isn't nearly as interesting as the other royal family."
He must have seen the question in my eyes, and he chuckled quietly, "How curious you are," something in his tone kept me from bristling at his words. "It wouldn't be fitting for a prince to go around gossiping about such things, but I'll admit I'm rather curious myself."
I let a hint of my favorite smirk find my lips, "Then we won't call it gossip. Just two royals exchanging information."
His sly smile returned, "Fair enough, where shall we start?"
I knew I only had until the end of the song to ask questions, so I cut straight to the chase, "You said the other royal family is more interesting. How so?"
"Well, there's the princes for starters." He said, lowering his tone an octave as we swept near another dancing couple. "Each born from a different mother. It's said that when King Colby first found his mate, he was completely taken by her, but she was from a weak bloodline, a bloodletter." He paused as I spun around him again, not continuing until my hand was clasped back in his. "Theories vary, but they say the King had been in love with Lady Sabine Jaeger for his entire youth, and eventually, even the mate bond couldn't keep them apart. He turned his back on his mate– Adalie, I believe was her name– and married Queen Sabine instead. Within a year, both women had given birth to a royal son. Not long after that, Adalie died of a mysterious sickness. They claim that because of her weak bloodline, her body was not able to heal itself as it should have, but just between the two of us," he leaned in to whisper near my ear, "I think foul play was involved."
My head was spinning from the information, "Married? Vampires practice marriage?"
He laughed, making my eyes shoot up to meet his baby blues. "That's what you got out of all of that?" His laughter died down after a moment, "Yes, vampires marry. Don't shifters?"
I frowned, "Only those mated to humans."
I opened my mouth to ask another question, but he beat me to it, "I would gladly answer your questions until the end of the ball, but I do have a few of my own."
I nodded, "Ask away, but I'll warn you that there is nothing I could tell you that is anywhere near as interesting as what you just told me."
"Don't sell yourself short, you're plenty interesting on your own."
I barked a short laugh, "Me?"
He didn't laugh with me, face turning serious, "Yes, you. You do realize that you're one of the only half-human royals on the entire continent, don't you?"
"Well, yes, but–"
"I've never seen a human treated as highly as your mother is."
I was momentarily taken aback, "You're a prince."
He gave me a bitter smile, "Being human royalty in Geistreich, doesn't mean nearly as much as it does here. Our main function is still as it was forty years ago when the kingdoms were founded: for dress-up and posturing. Someone to occasionally throw a crown on, to give the illusion of some kind of equality and keep the human peasants at bay. Just as your grandfather intended to use the Anderson family before your father met his human mate and changed the course of your kingdom's history." He let out a humorless chuckle, "Given the treatment of poor Adalie, I'm not so certain a true human queen is even possible in my homeland."
I mulled over his words in silence.
After a moment, he spoke again, his tone lighter, "Your mother isn't just a prop queen, she is The Queen of Lupia. Everyone, shifter or human, bows to her without question."
I glanced at where my mother stood chatting idly with guests, pressed against my father's side. "She had her own battles to fight to get to where she is."
He hummed in agreement. It didn't surprise me that he knew the more gory details of my parents love story, especially given his kingdom of origin. "But you are the one I'm truly interested in. You're a bit of an enigma, did you know that?"
I raised my brows, but did not respond. He trudged on, "Nobody seems to know very much about you, for certain at least, including those who live in the very castle you do. The only thing the stories seem to agree on is that you are a great beauty," He paused, to shoot me a cheeky grin, "A fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find was not exaggerated."
"Well, what is it you would like to know then?"
"Some claim, you're fully human, while others claim you are Gino DiLuna reincarnated." He didn't phrase it as a question, but I understood what he was asking anyway.
"Just how much research have you done on me?"
He had the humility to at least look sheepish, "I'll admit the possibility of a human heir to the Lupian throne has been a very interesting topic to explore."
"Well then, I'm sorry to disappoint," I said, loosening the damper on my power and feeling my eyes shift from their usual violet to the golden hue of my wolf, "though, you might be relieved to learn that I am nothing like my grandfather, either."
He did look a touch disappointed, though I couldn't help but notice the way his entire demeanor stiffened. "A shame," he managed to get out, his voice much more formal than it had been.
I chuckled, pushing my power back inside me, "Oh, come on now. None of that. Am I really so different now than I was when you asked me to dance?"
He hesitated, but then I felt him relax back into our dance, "I suppose not," he admitted, giving me a curious look.
Before he could ask another question, I steered the conversation away from me. "So, the king of Geistreich has two sons born the same year." I thought back on my studies with Signora Flori, "Prince Bastian and Prince Aurick. Which one will inherit the throne?"
He didn't seem to mind the change in topic, "Well, that where it gets even more interesting." Some of his earlier animation returned to his demeanor, "Bastian was born a few months before Aurick, but he is the son of Adalie. While younger, Aurick is the son of the king's wife. I think King Colby might have planned to name Aurick his heir, but something changed in him when Adalie died, and," he leaned close again, seemingly over his fear at discovering my inhumanness, "rumors have it, he's been losing his mind ever since."
"So neither have been named crown prince?"
He shrugged, "The queen might have gone around the king to have her son officially named heir, but the allegiance of the nobles is split almost evenly between the two. If she were to try, a civil war could very well break out."
My eyes widened. He was sharing very sensitive secrets, indeed. The rest of the continent had no idea that they shared borders with a kingdom on the verge of war. "Bastian is so favored, even after how his mother was treated?"
His smile was humorless, "Bastian has something his mother never did: true inherited power. Like yours. That, paired with the cunning to make himself completely indispensable, and the charm to inspire fierce loyalty."
He looked to me, as if making sure I was still following. I nodded for him to continue, "Aurick has a stronger claim to the throne, but only because his parents were legally married before his birth. And, while he has been drinking and gambling his way through every bar in the kingdom, his brother has grown into a very formidable rival."
"What is it that Bastian does that is so great?"
The song was beginning to slow, and I knew there was not much time left before we would have to separate, or risk starting quite a few rumors, "Bastian left for a few years 'for school' but when he returned, he had a skill set not taught in any school I have ever heard of."
I wished he would stop playing so coy, making me ask so many questions, "What skill?"
"Espionage"
I laughed, "You're kidding."
He met my eyes, evenly, no hint of humor, "nobody does it as well as he does. There is not a single thing in the entire kingdom, maybe even the continent, that he doesn't already know. He knows what you ate for breakfast, where you go when you want to be alone, knows your next thought before it has even entered your mind. He is everywhere, and knows everything, and isn't seen unless he wants to be. If he turns his attention on you, there is nothing you can do to hide. He has stopped uprisings and conspirators before they have even had the opportunity to strike. He is beloved by the poor and rich alike. You know him as Prince Bastian, but the kingdom has another name for him."
"What's that?"
Something in his response made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, "The Spectre."
~*~*~
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