Tobias POV;

I sit on my golden throne. The handles are covered with small yet beautiful jewels that glisten in the last few rays of sunlight. All around me people are laughing and talking, smiling and dancing. Of course I am not one of them. I sit sourly in my chair, drinking red wine from my chalice absent mindedly. This has not been a fun day, but of course balls never are.

I watch carefully as all my "guests" greet my soon to be wife Lauren. Of course they all smile and exchange a few words of greeting but nobody can hide the amount of distain they have, especially if that distain is directed towards Lauren. To put the reason frankly; she's a major bitch.

I roll my eyes and Lauren smiles, flashing her pearly white teeth, and tells the general of my army how happy she is that he could attend. Of course it's all a play, all a set up, all a test.

My father isn't here at the moment, though I'm not surprised at all. I would bet 20 silver pieces that he's either trying to seduce come young servant or he's lying in his bed with a female servant, somebody who can't say no to their ruler, their emperor, their king.

My mother is in the medical ward. She contracted the Silver Fever a few days ago and has been staying in a secluded area ever since. The doctors are doing everything they can but nobody is sure she'll survive. It sickens my heart to think that my dying mother's husband is off warming his bed with some poor innocent servant.

I look up from my chalice, snapping out of my daydream. I see a Lauren looking at me expectantly. Shit she must have asked me something, and I have no clue what she said. I play it safe, I give a nod and flash a small smile, though my heart isn't in it. It seems to satisfy Laruen though she goes back to talking to whoever they are.

I sigh and swirl the wine around my silver chalice. It's blood red color seems to glow in the fading sunlight, especially when it's pressed against the pure silver sides of my cup. I down the small bit of wine in a gulp and can begin to feel the effects. This is after all my 4th glass of wine.

My head starts to pound slightly and Lauren looks at me, completely oblivious to the fact that I'm getting drunk right before her eyes. "More wine?" she asks me, poring me another cup of the blood red liquid.

I say nothing, not even nodding my head in thanks. Of course Lauren has turned her attention away from me. She's getting up and walking onto the dance floor, most likely searching for some older man to warm her bed later.

I snort at the idea, making my wine shake slightly. I can't help but find the idea of Lauren trying to seduce somebody amusing, since she has absolutely nothing to work with.

She's horribly ugly. She sports a oval shaped face with pale skin and bright blonde hair that give her a skeleton look. her eyes are sunken slightly and are a pale blue, seeming to blend in with her skin. She has no chest and is horribly, so to speak, plain.

Her personality won't help her either. Sure she can be charming at times but it takes effort and usually she isn't very good at it. She's a bitch and that shows through whether she's talking about killing people, or seducing men.

She doesn't even have any money to offer suitors, if she had any. She's flat broke, as are her parents, King Max and Queen Nita. They sold her off to me so that they could gain an army and money.

I watch lazily as she chat with the general, she seems to be inching closer to him and the generals wife if looking on angrily. Of course she can't intervene not when it would mean upsetting her Prince's soon to be wife. I feel sorry for the women and am about to head over to Lauren, demanding she find a non married man to seduce when the doors to the ball room burst open.

They bang against the walls and five guards walk in. Two in the front, dressed in iron armor. Behind them two more guards hold a young girl in between them, though it mustn't have been easy since the girl was kicking and screaming hell. One guard followed behind, his sword drawn in case the girl manages to escape.

One of the front guards step towards me, "Your Highness." he says, taking a small bow as is custom. Once I nod at him he carries on.

"We found this young servant girl snooping around the royals treasure room. None of the servants have been able to identify her so we can only assume she is from the enemy." he informs me, stealing a glance towards Lauren.

I nod and wave my hand, telling him to continue. "The immediate response would be to kill her tomorrow at dawn but we thought we should have your input." he tells me, cocking his head ever so slightly in the direction of Lauren.

The message, though subtle, is clear. He has a feeling my fiancé sent this servant to rob me and he wants to know if death will be a hard enough punishment for this girl.

I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to laugh. It bubbles in my throat my I manage to suppress it, settling for a smile. Perhaps it is the wine, talking a toll on me, but I find the whole situation hilarious. All the people looking to me for a decision and here I am, wanting to laugh my ass off.

I wait a second, trying to compose myself. When I speak my voice is calm though on the inside I am still dying to laugh.

"Take her to my room." I order the guard, giving him a small smile, which confuses him. I'm not exactly a cheerful man. "I'll deal with her there." I add, waving him away with my hand and taking another sip of my wine.

The blood red liquid makes it way down my throat and I love the feeling of it. Before I know it I've downed the whole cup, my fifth cup of wine since the evening started.

I look up and realize everybody is staring at me, I'm not sure why as the wine is making my brain fuzzy. I wave my hand at them and smile, "Please continue with the banquet!" I cheer, raising my glass for a toast, though it only goes halfway into the air before I take a gulp.

After the little incident all I can think about is the girl. I got a good look at her and can't help but think about how she is much prettier then Lauren. She has pale skin yes but it's not deathly pale like Lauren's. Her hair is a dark blonde but her eyes are what caught my attention. They are a stunning mix of blue and grey and they seemed so vivid, so bright.

I sigh happily and take another gulp of wine. Now I know for sure that the wine if effecting my brain because I keep looking around and wondering who all these people are. At one point I give up trying to remember everybody and just sit on my throne contently, drinking wine, after wine, after wine.

Once the evening draws to a close all the guests are waved out as Lauren stands at the door, giving them all small good bye words and a few choice get a hug. She doesn't wave me over, which is good because I don't think I could walk that far.

Once all the guests have left she walks back over to me and sits down in the chair next to mine. She glances up at me wearily, she's unsure about how much wine I've had to drink, as drunk men can be dangerous men.

I manage to give her a lopsided smile, though the action feels strange against my tight lips. She lets out a small snort of laughter and my drunken grin and stands up, "I'll turn in for the night." she informs me, before leaving and heading down the hall to her lavish bedroom.

I sigh once again and am left alone. I wave one of the servant's over. "Escort me back to my room." I command him, struggling to stand up.

The servant grabs my arm and guides me out of my throne. He leads me down the halls of the palace, all the while I am grinning like an idiot and keep shouting random things at the poor fellow.

We make it to my bedroom in one piece though and the servants opens the door for me. "I'll send somebody to help you prepare for bed your highness." he informs me before closing the solid oak door behind him.

After he is gone I collapse onto my bed, which is covered in silk sheets. I close my eyes, hoping to sleep before the servant comes when a voice pipes up.

"I'm sorry if you drunk." she tells me, though her tone seems to suggest just the opposite, "However I'd like to have my own room to sleep in." she tells me getting up from the small chair she was sitting in, which was smuggled into the corner.

I sit up on my bed and look at her, taking in her willowy frame, yet powerful presence. I wave her over to sit with me on the bed, "You awfully pretty." I inform her, the wine addling my brain.

The girl blushes and looks down, flustered. She isn't quite sure what to do with a drunken prince. She doesn't have to figure it out though because the door opens and two servants walk in, one male, one female.

The female one takes the girl's arm and guides her away, none to gently. "Miss I'm sorry but the prince will have to question you tomorrow." he informs her, dragging her away from me.

I want to tell him that she should stay here but I can't make the words come out. Instead I call out to her just as she leaves, "What's your name!"

She glances back at me just as they round the corner. "Tris." she tells me, just before she disappears from sight.

The male servant has readied my night clothes and by this time is helping me into them, murmuring gentle things to me. As I lay down in my bed once and for all the night I can't help but think of Tris.

That night as I sleep my dreams are haunted by the small girl with the blonde hair, and the vivid blue and grey eyes.

Hey ya'll [no I'm not southern lol}

Anyway thank you sooooo much for reading the first chapter of my new story! I hope you enjoyed it!

Please leave comments on what you think should happen and feedback is always appreciated.

~Ciao

S-K-B-H