So this is what it feels like to be a Princess.
PrincessJillian Mastrano- Dragomir carefully straightened her skirts around her, standing awkwardly in the hallway of the Court. Her mandatory high heels were biting into her feet, and her dress was tight and constricting, though even she had to admit it was beautiful. Yards and yards of dark green taffeta embroidered with white lace hung in an off-the-shoulder design by some famous moroi she had never heard of. Her hair, usually down and messily combed, had been straightened into sleek perfection, pulled into an artfully crafted bun that let lose a few curly strands that framed her make-up covered face.
If someone had told her three months ago that she would be attending a royal dinner party on her 16th birthday, she would have laughed in their face. But here she was, steeling herself for her entrance into a room full of the most influential royals around. There was also a rumor of a surprise appearance from her… sister…. Queen Vasilisa Dragomir.
Jill took a deep breath, checked her posture, and approached the two guardians at the entrance to the state room where the dinner party was being held. Their eyes followed her as she moved by them, and she averted eye contact as she passed, knowing what was waiting for her inside the room.
A large group of royals, all proper and prim, were gliding leisurely around the room, laughing quietly and drinking champagne, shaking hands and politely debating politics. Ugh. Jill forced a smile as she entered and felt all eyes sweep towards her. Well, all eyes except the watchful ones of the myriad guardians stationed around the room swept towards her. As a new and controversial entity in court, she was something of a celebrity with the royals and subject to many questions and offers of friendship. Sure enough, a man in a suit so expensive she hardly dared look at it was approaching her within seconds of her entrance.
"Princess Dragomir." He had a voice like honey, and on closer inspection he was really very handsome. He handed her a thin, elegant glass of champagne. He looked to be about three years older than her, and his eyes were a deep blue. He was adorable. So of course she was tongue tied. She tried to think back to her mandatory etiquette classes.
A princess is eloquent.
"Hey." Shit.
A princess is proper
"What's up?" No no no!
A princess is graceful.
She took a drink of her champagne and slopped some down her front. The guy smiled and deftly pulled out a silk handkerchief embroidered with the initials J.Z
"I'm Jesse Zeklos," He told her as he leaned down and mopped some of the champagne off her chest. She blushed.
"Its… v-very nice to meet you, Jesse." She sat up a little straighter, pushing his hand away from her chest. He was getting frighteningly close to her cleavage.
"And its a definite pleasure to meet you, Princess." He kissed her hand gently, letting his fangs graze her skin. She shivered slightly. Jesse grinned.
"I'd like to get to know you even better…"
"Fuck off, Zeklos." A loud voice sounded from behind Jill. She jumped. So did several disdainful people within five feet of Adrian Ishakov, who had approached the pair of them silently from behind.
Jesse bristled. "Watch it, Ishakov. I'm simply welcoming the new princess into society."
"She doesn't need welcoming into your kind of society. Go scurry back to your rat's nest."
Jesse glared at him, but turned and stalked off in the direction of the food. Jill slumped against the mirrored wall and looked gratefully up at Adrian.
"Thanks for that."
He leaned against the wall next to her with his hands in his pockets. "No problem."
Jill looked at him closely. He smelled like alcohol and cigarettes, which was no surprise, but his tousled brown hair, usually artfully styled, was limp and untouched. His gorgeous emerald green eyes were dull. She also noted that instead of his usual expensive suit he was wearing jeans and a v-neck t-shirt. He had an air of unkempt dejectedness about him, and he stared mournfully out at the crowd of moroi.
"Adrian? Are you… are you okay?"
He seemed not to have heard her. An odd look had come over him. "You know what, Jailbait? These people are all pawns."
"Pawns?"
"Pawns. Pawns in the great game of politics that goes on in this place. Its not a clean game though- oh no, its dirty. And its filled with lies. And deceit. And heartbreak. " He clenched his fists together.
"Adrian, I-" She hated to see him so upset. He was usually so quick to joke and laugh, or at least flirt.
"And there's nowhere that those lies and deceit and heartbreak are kept out. Nowhere is safe. You can't trust anyone." Adrian was still rambling. Jill was getting seriously alarmed now.
"Adrian, are you-"
A tall guardian suddenly entered the room, flanked by two others, all marked by the royal crest. The tall one pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it; "Clear!" A stream of guardians filed in, scouting the room warily and flooding into the corners quickly and efficiently. And then, flanked by four stone-faced guardians, came the Queen. Lissa looked radiant as always, her blonde hair swept around her shoulders, her dress of the lightest lavender, shimmering and beautiful. Her boyfriend, Christian Ozera, and Jill's personal offensive magic instructor, had his arm linked with hers, his brilliant blue eyes sparkling. If they were here, that must mean… Jill's eyes raked the guardians closest to them. There- easily spotted even through the crowd due to his height, was Dimitri Belikov, Christian's guardian, looking dangerous and capable, and next to him, her gaze darting between Lissa and Dimitri, was Rose Hathaway, one of Lissa's guardian, and Dimitri's girlfriend. Jill wanted to go up and say hello, but Rose was on duty, and it was best not to disturb her. She did, however, want to say something to her…sister… and Christian. She turned to Adrian, who had gone oddly still.
"Come with me to say hi to them!" She smiled, hoping this distraction would draw him out of his strange mood.
"No."
"Come on, Adrian. Please?"
"No, I-" But it was too late. Lissa and Christian had already made their way over to them, beaming. Dimitri, Rose, and two other guardians, both men, were following them closely.
"Lissa, Christian! How are you doing?" Jill awkwardly hugged her… sister… and Christian.
"Great. I'm really enjoying college." Lissa seemed just as awkward as Jill was feeling, but she attempted one of her dazzling smiles anyway. "And you? Getting used to this all?" She gestured gracefully around the room.
"Not really." Jill grimaced. Christian laughed and turned to Adrian, who was still frozen against the wall, his expression stony. His fingers were twitching in his pocket- most likely praying for a cigarette.
Christian didn't seem to notice (or perhaps didn't care about) his tense stance. "How about you, Ishakov? Holding up? Taking care of little Jill for us?"
"Yes." Adrian's lips barely moved.
Everyone else (minus the guardians) glanced at each other, but it was Lissa who spoke.
"Adrian, are you alright?" She put an arm around his shoulder and steered him away from the rest of the group. Jill watched them go, then saw Lissa's close guard break up. Jill watched them closely. As interested as she was in fighting, she was intrigued by the seamless way the guardians worked. However as she watched the guardians decide who was to break off with Lissa and Adrian, she noticed the first glitch of the night- almost imperceptible. One of the other male guardians of the group- a short, well-built blonde man- signaled for Rose to follow them, but Rose shook her head. The man glared and signaled again. Rose's eyes flicked to Dimitri, who nodded. Sighing, Rose broke off and stayed a close distance from Lissa and Adrian, looking very uncomfortable about her situation.
Jill looked at Christian. He seemed to also have noticed the silent exchange. He was shaking his head as he watched Rose's departing back.
"I don't think those two are ever going to be able to be in the same room together again."
"What?" Jill looked back at Adrian, who had suddenly started gesticulating wildly in Rose's direction. Rose stood, a guardian statue, simply watching Lissa.
Christian sighed. "Rose and Adrian. They had a hard break-up."
Dimitri shifted uncomfortably next to him. Jill felt sorry for him. He and Rose were a truly amazing couple, totally in sync…. but Rose had been with Adrian pretty seriously right before Dimitri came back into her life. Apparently the break-up had been far from mutual. It had only been a month since then… maybe that explained Adrian's upset demeanor tonight.
Christian suddenly straightened. "Happy Birthday Jill. I almost forgot."
"Oh. Thanks, Christian."
Rose and Lissa were back, both looking shocked and hurt. Rose went to stand with the rest of the near guard. Jill saw Dimitri squeeze her hand comfortingly. Christian did the same for Lissa. She looked at the crowd, her face somber. "Adrian left. He yelled at Rose pretty badly…. he won't talk to me since… Well…" She looked pointedly at Rose. Jill was amazed at Rose's ability to keep her face the emotionless guardian mask it was.
"I can go talk to him," Jill said, surprising even herself.
Lissa looked apprehensive. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure. Bye for now everyone. See you Rose."
Rose gave her a small smile.
Adrian wasn't where Jill had last seen him, but she had a suspicion about where he would be. She checked the bar and just barely caught a glimpse of Adrian's departing figure slipping out the door. She followed, her pumps feeling especially uncomfortable, and exited the state room. It was getting late, and the hallway was empty except for a few guardians patrolling. Jill heard a door slam and jogged after the sound, pulling off her heels as she went. Adrian had exited one of the doors leading to a medium-sized balcony. She stepped outside after him, squinting in the sunlight. She wasn't used to being up this late. Adrian was smoking, leaning on the railing on the balcony, staring at the sun-drenched courtyard below. He looked like an escapee from a Burberry ad. She leaned against the rail next to him. "Hey."
"Hey." He exhaled smoke, making her cough.
"You okay?" She asked.
He turned and smiled down at her. "You just found out you're a princess. Are you okay?"
She repeated what she had said to Lissa; "Not really."
Adrian laughed. He had such a genuine, warm laugh. "Well that's my answer too, Jailbait. Am I okay?" He looked out at the courtyard again, pulling out another cigarette. "Not really."
Jill hesitated. "I'm…. I'm sorry about how things ended between you and Rose."
His head snapped around and he looked down at her again. He stared at her for several tense seconds before he nodded slowly and took a deep pull off his cigarette. "Thanks Jailbait. You really mean that."
"Can you tell that from my aura?" Adrian's spirit element gave him the power to see people's auras.
He laughed again. "No. I've been drinking too much to use my powers." He leaned in closer to her, and she could smell the truth in his words. "I can read you, Jailbait. And you really mean that."
She smiled.
"I can read you're emotions like a book- your face is so open and innocent. Its like you're acting out every feeling you have. Its refreshing." He gave her a sideways look, exhaling smoke over the railing again. "Of course that means you basically suck at being a princess."
"What! How so?"
"Princesses, no scratch that, everyone royal needs to be able to hide their emotions. They also need to be able to wear heels." He looked pointedly at her bare feet. She flushed.
"I know. I'm terrible. I'm not cut out for this."
He gave her an odd, calculating look. "No one really is. You just learn to adapt. I grew up with it, so I'm used to it. You though, you need to learn." He paused. "I could teach you."
Jill straightened up. "You could?"
He grinned, showing his fangs. "Sure. Royalty 101. I know everything, even if I choose to disregard it."
"Okay. Sure." She smiled up at him.
"Cool. Lets start tomorrow. You can come to my room whenever. You might have to wake me up, though."
She laughed. "Alright." She turned to leave. "Goodnight, Adrian."
"Night Jailbait."