*~Chapter One~*

"How beautiful." Skylar spoke in awe.

Skylar lifted the hem of her dress, borrowed by none other than the kind Prince Edward, and made her way down a beautiful well-lit hallway. She stopped at the entrance of the ballroom and gazed upon the regal men and women mingling with glasses of wine and smiles on their faces. Even the waiters were dignified and gave off an air she couldn't describe.

Skylar released a heavy sigh, "How in the world did I get here.."

Skylar felt like she was in a dream. She released a contented breath and slowly made her way into the ballroom. Her bright blue eyes scanned the room to find Prince Edward again, but it was to no avail. Hordes of women made it near impossible.

"Here I come, wine." Skylar mumbled under her breath as she turned away to the food tables with a disappointed groan.

It's not like I know how to dance anyway..

Maybe Skylar hoped too much for that Cinderella ending. It soured her mood as she downed another glass of wine in her naïve daydream. A quiet hiccup erupted from her mouth as she quickly placed her hand on her lips. To be honest, she had a good tolerance for alcohol, but a case of hiccups always accompanied her drinking.

With a shake of her head, she reached for another glass. She stared down at her glass as she swiveled the liquid quietly in circles.

"May I have this dance?" A voice spoke up.

Skylar's back stiffened as she recognized that voice. Slowly, she faced the man who requested a dance.

"Prince Keith." She greeted, astonished.

His blue-green eyes widened as he took a better look at her face.

Even he contorted his face in disgust, "Hmph, I guess a commoner can look the part wearing the right attire from any angle."

Skylar frowned and sipped her wine, "Well." Then she gazed away as her stomach tangled in knots. How embarrassing. How rude, too.

"It can't be helped now." He whispered to himself.

She brushed a stray strand of her long raven locks and noticed his hand that reached out to her. After a soft hiccup, she let out a chortle and looked up at him, "You're not serious? You just insulted me. Why would I want to dance with you?"

"Stop wasting my time and give me your hand." He grumbled as his brow furrowed.

"No. Thank you but I think I'll pass on your offer." Her voice attempted sincerity and patience, but it was difficult not to glare at him.

Prince Keith was taken aback. His mouth gaped as if he wasn't used to being denied. Skylar took a guess that her rejection toppled his ego and pride significantly. She started to turn away when he stepped in front of her, eyes lit with fury.

"Did you just deny me? Are you trying to make me look bad?"

With a sigh, she stared him down, "That was not my intent. Besides, why would I want to dance with a high-and-mighty prince like you?"

His sharp glare only grew more threatening as Skylar spat at him, "Do you not know who you're talking to?"

She folded her arms against her chest, "Look, if you need me to dance so bad, how about you act like a prince and be polite. Maybe I'll even consider it."

Prince Keith huffed and she began to walk away until he forcibly grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the center of the dance floor.

Skylar's own face turned red at the warmth from his hand and grew angry despite herself, "Look, I don't want to dance with you! Let go of my wrist!"

Keith scoffed, "Think of it as an honor. You get to dance with the great Prince of Liberty."

"What's so great about that?" She muttered in retort.

The Prince glared evilly over his shoulder until he reached the center of the dance floor. He faced Skylar as she glared back at him with all her might.

"You won't embarrass me." He growled.

Keith released her wrist and bowed to her. She froze in spite of him but examined him closely. His behavior seemed civil now. As her glare fell his eyebrow arched at her. Skylar glanced down at his offered hand. Stifling a hiccup, she rested her hand in his with great reluctance as Prince Keith widened his eyes at the sound. Warmth spread to her face as he stared.

He shook it off and placed his other hand on her waist. Skylar flinched uncomfortably as he left his hand there. I really don't want to dance with this jerk. Prince Keith's hands felt strange and hot against her. She was sure her ears were bright pink.

Before the music even started, she was pulled closer to him. Her breathing skipped a beat as his body drew closer to hers. A moment passed and music swelled all around them.

"Ack!" She gasped before quickly stepping in beat with him.

The music played softly and caused Skylar to sigh happily as it echoed into her ears. Even though she was dancing with Keith, she could appreciate the beautiful sounds of the orchestra. Prince Keith glanced toward her face and their eyes met instantly.

She was surprised at the intensity of his stare. His blue-green eyes mirrored hers as her legs moved on their own. Keith let a smile appear on his face as he smirked.

"You're not as bad as I thought you'd be." He muttered.

She tore her gaze away to his neck to avoid the distraction of his eyes. Skylar's body tensed and Keith moved his face closer. Her face shot back up as he caught her gaze again.

"Don't look away."

Those blue-green eyes kept hers locked into his gaze as they continued to dance all over the dance floor. Their sways more elegant and enraptured then ever seen before. Eyes were glued to their dancing figures as Skylar kept her gaze on him. Everything dissolved around her. All that remained was the music and Keith dancing with her.

Before she knew it, the song was over and Prince Keith retracted his arms from her with a relieved breath.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

Skylar hesitated as she kept her eyes down to the floor.

"What? No witty remark?"

A hand brought her chin up, and her eyes again surrendered to his.

"Oy? Are you sick or something? All that dancing make you dizzy?"

She quickly jerked her face from his grip, "No." Skylar bowed her head, "Thanks for the dance. I'll be going now."

His eyes widened and his brow arched, "What? I didn't think you would give up a fight so easily."

Skylar turned with only a few words, "You don't even know me, Prince Keith."

Surprisingly, she kept a normal pace as she left him standing there. Her face still felt hot as she unconsciously rubbed her hand to the back of her forehead. It was just all that dancing. It made me woozy. Nothing more. Get yourself together, Skylar.

Soon after she walked away from Keith, Skylar found herself wading through a crowd of women headed straight to him. She fought her way through, but eventually made it back to where she was at before. A glass of red wine was in her hand this time as she silently cursed the flush still present on her neck.

"I'm just starting to get drunk. That's all." She murmured to herself as she caught Prince Edward's figure nearby.

Finally, a friendly face.

He caught her eyes on her then quickly made his way over to her. Prince Edward extended a gracious smile as he joined her.

"Hello, Skylar. Are you enjoying the party?"

"Yes, thank you, for inviting me. This is really," She struggled to find the right words, "a once in a lifetime experience."

"That's how I feel about meeting you, Skylar." He spoke seriously as he held her free hand and placed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. Her face was bright pink as he did so. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"I-I," she stuttered. No words came.

Edward looked almost playfully amused, "Sorry for startling you. I couldn't help myself. I apologize if I caused offense."

"No offense taken." She assured, "I think I'm just flushed from-" Skylar stopped herself as she found Prince Keith walking toward her and Prince Edward.

Prince Edward followed her gaze and greeted Prince Keith, "Hello, Prince Keith, how are you enjoying the party?"

Prince Keith seemed distracted as he answered with a scoff, "I was enjoying myself until this woman forced me to dance with her." He gestured accusingly toward Skylar, "Now every woman at the party won't give me a moment's peace."

She glared at him as Prince Edward seemed bewildered by the statement.

Skylar felt anger boil under her skin, but then she dropped her anger and placed an amused smile on her face, "Really? Because I believe it was you who forced me to dance after I rejected you."

Keith's face turned red as he glared at her victorious smile, "How like a commoner to lie and humiliate the royals." He smiled himself as Skylar's smile fell.

Prince Edward stepped in before Skylar could give a retort, "Prince Keith, why would you reject a beautiful woman's offer to dance? That is what baffles me."

Skylar glanced toward him and realized what Edward was doing when Keith's face grew into a deeper shade of red. It was a roundabout way of Edward defending Skylar. She smiled to Edward as Keith opened his mouth to respond.

"T-that is not important. She is hardly a winning beauty." He resigned with flushed cheeks.

Her face and victory deflated significantly as Skylar sipped her red wine. Edward laughed at Keith as she drank.

"You lie to yourself, Prince Keith." He chuckled and hooked his arm with Skylar's, "She's stunning to me."

Skylar was surprised to find Edward close to her as Prince Keith seemingly glared at their closeness. She dismissed that glare for his anger. He couldn't be glaring at Edward for being so close. Prince Keith is too rude for that. Regardless, his comment stung worse than she wanted to show. She was just too simple for this lifestyle.

"I think I need some air." Skylar spoke aloud as she set down her empty glass and freed herself from Prince Edward and retreated to the door she had entered earlier this evening.

Her feet carried her swiftly to the door. Once she shut the door behind her, Skylar broke into a sprint. To her own shock, her heels kept up with her and didn't slow her down. Not until she reached a balcony door and all but slammed into another figure.

Skylar didn't even look up as she bowed in apology, "I'm sorry." Her voice shook which she had not intended.

When silence was all she received, she straightened up to find Prince Glenn with a curious look on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Prince Glenn questioned as his brow burrowed in annoyance.

Skylar was surprised to find her eyes had leaked. She wiped away the tears. She knew she was upset but had no idea that she had begun to cry. Instinctively, she wiped her eyes with her fingers, careful not to smudge her make up.

"Forgive me. I was looking to be alone." Skylar apologized, "As were you, it seems. Sorry to have disturbed you."

She turned to go, but her shoe had slipped off her foot. Skylar cursed in her head. Always at the worst times. She released a sigh then retraced her steps to find the shoe in Prince Glenn's hands.

"Allow me."

Skylar just wanted to run away and having Prince Glenn insist on such a thing caused her heart to pound against her chest. Her entire being had felt even more emotional than before.

"It's alright, I can do it myself." Skylar insisted and reached to retrieve the shoe.

Prince Glenn recoiled and held up a hand to stop her from attempting it again, "It's a man's responsibility." He mumbled to himself as he bent down.

Skylar's face reddened as Prince Glenn's warm hand lifted her foot the slightest bit. His hands grazed her foot as he guided it into the shoe with a steady, gentle touch. Glenn looked up as her foot rested perfectly in the shoe. Skylar gazed away in spite of herself then hurried to speak as he straightened.

"Thank you, Prince Glenn." She spoke quickly and faltered in volume, "Though it wasn't necessary."

He smirked as if he found amusement behind her words, "No problem, Skylar."

"Huh? How'd you know my name?"

His youthful face turned red, "Um, Prince Roberto told us all about you. As well as Prince Edward."

Skylar felt a blush creep up her neck as she smiled. Wow. They spoke of me? But why me? She dismissed the feeling of acceptance and recalled Prince Keith's comment and his actions. Perhaps he was simply embarrassed. Skylar cursed her damned emotions. Her own self-image had always been a sensitive subject for her. Ever since primary school.

She was countries away from her old life, but she had caused herself to bring back the past. How idiotic. They must all think me a fool.

It had been quiet for a while. Once Skylar woke from her daze, she glanced at Prince Glenn's still flushed face. He looked so young. Maybe younger than I. Not that it mattered. He was a prince. Any and all women probably fight for his heart. At least the princes wouldn't have to worry about an ordinary commoner like herself. Skylar RaShae wasn't going to cause any problems.

"I apologize for being so quiet." Skylar said softly, "I spaced out a bit for a moment."

Prince Glenn seemed amused, "Daydreaming? A commoner's trait, hm?"

"I resent that comparison." Skylar fought back with a playful tone, "Besides, why wouldn't a commoner daydream a little?" She leaned forward on the railing and stared out at Charles, "Some of us are not so fortunate to have fancy mansions, butlers, and parties every night. It's normal to play pretend you're a princess or prince when you're younger."

Prince Glenn stood straight beside her and watched her eyes sparkle as she spoke with such conviction. Like she had once dreamed of these things. Skylar stared up at the sky then. With a gasp she pointed her finger high and Prince Glenn followed her gaze.

"A shooting star." She whispered and flushed as she realized the childish way she pointed out the star.

Prince Glenn scoffed, "It's simply a star. Nothing mo-" He looked over to find Skylar's head bowed and eyes closed, "What are you doing?"

Skylar grinned and opened her eyes, "I made a wish." She glanced over her shoulder at Prince Glenn. He seemed beguiled by her actions. Even astonished.

"What did you wish for?" Prince Glenn questioned as he turned his gaze out to the city.

Skylar laughed and she prepared herself for a Prince Keith like temper tantrum, "Can't tell."

He looked at her with widened eyes, "Why not?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true." Skylar said matter-of-factly.

"You're impossible." Prince Glenn retorted.

Skylar bit her lip and thought of a solution as she watched him writhe beside her in curiosity, "Well tell me why you were out here then I'll tell you why I came out here and my wish."

Those beautiful brown eyes caught her own watching him, "What?"

"Don't act like you're not curious." She mumbled in response.

Prince Glenn grumbled as he glared at her, "What are you playing at?"

Skylar fidgeted away from the railing and started for the door, "Forget about it, Your Highness. I should be going. I've stayed away too long."

Prince Glenn seemed shocked by her sudden departure and quickly followed suit, "You don't have to run off."

"I meant no offense." Skylar muttered with only a swift look back at Prince Glenn before stopping, "Would you like to return to the ballroom with me? I have too much on my mind as of late and I'd like to go enjoy some wine."

Prince Glenn shook his head, "No, I was actually looking for someone before when I was on the balcony. I should look for him before it gets much later."

"Well, I hope you find him. Then find yourself home safely." Skylar curtsied to him, "Goodbye, Prince Glenn."

Prince Glenn smiled and bowed to Skylar, "Same for you, Skylar."

Skylar retreated to the ballroom as they separated. She found the remaining princes had clumped together a mere foot or two from the door. She wanted more than anything to pass by unseen. It wouldn't surprise her if Prince Edward would spot her first. At least she could use the horde of women that crowded them as cover until she reached the wine again. Her hiccups had stopped and with the one person she had a conversation with gone, she couldn't try it with Prince Edward. Especially with the incorrigible Prince Keith. The others she had yet to speak to.

She stepped past them cautiously and casually. Skylar simply wanted to enjoy what little of the party was left then head back to reality later. Perhaps fate had a better plan that.