The Prince

IsabelleB.

That Son Of A Bush (Concerning Mixed Principalities)

Summary: Sebastian finds out the meaning of American Royalty.

AN: I hope you've realized by now that all the chapters will follow the same exact format. That the first half of chapter will always be in the present and second half of chapter will always be set in the past, about fours years ago. Its been a while since I've written so here's a recap of what's happened:

Recap: In the present, Sebastian Valmont has met an inquisitive man that he has nicknamed 'the Armani man'. Sebastian grudgingly decides to share his whole life story with him. In Sebastian's retelling of his tall, we have just reached the part where Sebastian has chatted up our charming Kathryn Merteuil and has decided to win her at any cost. Even though, he knows she has a boyfriend…

A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war, its methods and its discipline, for that is the only art expected of a ruler. And it is of such great value that it not only keeps hereditary princes in power, but often raises men of lowly condition to that rank. --Machiavelli

"So how did you end up in a fight with Pierce Bush?"

Sebastian glared at him. "You know an awful lot about me for you to be a stranger."

The Armani man shrugged. "What can I say? I read the news."

"You mean the gossip magazines. The Enquirer, perhaps?" Sebastian mumbled in irritation. He hated that his life was on display for the entire world to see; hated more importantly that his failures were no longer his to share alone. Once again, he wished it would all disappear – that he could act like nothing had occurred.

But --

"Everything they wrote about, it all happened," the Armani man finished, completing his entire train of thought. He realized, as he continued to guzzle his bottle of beer, that if the Enquirer was responsible for anything, it wasn't for stalking his life. It was for supporting his demented train of thought.

With a sigh, Sebastian nodded back. "Yeah, it all happened – "

The same anger built in him that he had felt approximately five years ago --

He slammed down the magazine article on Blaine's living room table.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!!"

"No, no. He's the Son of a Bush," Blaine smiled back adroitly. "But I can see where you'd make that mistake."

Sebastian tried his best to contain his anger, but it was painfully hard when the picture of Kathryn Merteuil and Pierce Bush stared back at him. Kathryn had not lied to him at all. She did have a boyfriend. However, this guy was no average man – no common competitor he could sweep under the rug. He was dealing with American Royal. The Bush Family. A royal family that his favorite Ice Princess would die to be in. All his plans seemed to fade as the picture of the lovely couple was imprinted further in his brain. "Son of which Bush?"

"Neil Bush," Blaine informed him coyly. He grabbed the Enquirer article back, trying to end his best friend's tortured fixation. "He's the distant and not so well-known brother of George W. Bush. Neil's not the social critter in the family."

"Yeah but he's a Bush no less," Sebastian miffed, before lighting a cigarette to cure his frustrations. For two months he had been chasing Kathryn, she wouldn't so much as look for him. To say it drove him crazy was an understatement. He knew why now. He knew how much she had at stake... "Kathryn must have poured through his hands like butter."

Blaine shrugged. "Maybe."

The horns rose from Sebastian's head. "Blaine, what do you know?"

Blaine shook his head. "Valmont, you have no idea what you're dealing with. You like Kathryn, that's fine. If you want to fuck her, go ahead, but do not think for one second that Kathryn will leave Pierce for you. I don't even know why you insisted on that being the case. You have slept with married women, and that hasn't even caused you to bat an eyelash. So the real question is: Is this a challenge or has Sebastian finally developed feelings for a woman?"

"What do you think?" Sebastian scolded, not sure himself it the question was at all rhetorical. He wanted Kathryn there was no doubt about that, but didn't mean it implied love. He was quite certain that once he placed his body between those attractive thighs of hers, he never think of her again.

But –

He didn't just want to fuck her. What he wanted more than anything else was to ruin her for any other man. Once he had his way with her, he wanted her to crave him – only him. He wanted her to think of him in any endeavor and in every affair. He wanted to break down those icy walls of hers so that he could see the real her. He wasn't sure what he would do with her once that happened but those were his intentions.

And for it to work in his favor, it required her complete and utter attention. Something he couldn't get her to do with a boyfriend. A boyfriend who held more power than him. A boyfriend who would probably kill him for even thinking about his girlfriend. A boyfriend that could potentially deport his ass --

"I think," Blaine continued, trying to break his deep thoughts. "You're taking this challenge too seriously. I can't believe I'm saying this but you're in above your head this time. One thing, I do know about Kathryn is she always goes for the grand prize. She never settles for anything less and the Bush family – that's as big as it gets in America. So even if Kathryn does like you, she's not going to give up Pierce because of it. You'd have a better chance of hell freezing over."

"It already has," Sebastian hissed, referring to the Enquirer article in Blaine's hand. "But thanks for the level confidence, by the way."

He shrugged again. "Well, you asked my opinion."

"Still, I don't think she's as happy with the lovely Pierce as she says she is," Sebastian retorted stubbornly.

"Well, young Sebastian, you've been trying to woe our favorite Ice princess for the last month now, with no success," Blaine threw back mockingly."Now that you've decided you want to continue --What are you going to do next?"

"What do you think, Einstein?" Sebastian retorted as he grabbed his keys from Blaine's kitchen table. "I'll just have to date another girl --"

And the same thought ran through his head the following week as he walked through Manchester Prep aimlessly. He needed to find a girl to make Kathryn jealous. Something that shouldn't have been so fucking hard. Most the school already flocked for his attention. Even with Kathryn's outward disapproval of him, his good looks had allowed him to exist amongst the popular crowd. And oh yeah -- he also had the habit of fucking the female portion of them as well. In the last week, he had managed to fuck all of Kathryn's so-called friend. But it still had gotten him, nowhere.

From that, he realized if he was going to make her jealous, it wouldn't be through her mindless minions.

It would have to be someone new.

Someone she had no inside knowledge on. Someone she could believe held a threat to her status and prestige. Someone who could get under her skin. Someone she thought he could fall in love with --

But where would he find a girl like that?

With a sigh, he took a seat on the bleacher chairs in his overly affluent school's soccer field, and stressed over his appending problem. There were so many girls, but few he knew that could make Kathryn jealous, he thought, as he pulled out a cigarette.

"You're not supposed to do that," he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Well, thank god I don't follow school rules," he hissed, not even bothering to look up.

"You could get in trouble," she continued, in vain.

"I could," he started, slightly annoyed that this person insisted on bothering him, even with all his obnoxiousness. It wasn't until he turned to her that he re-thought his next group of words. She was beautiful, an golden plum, dressed modestly in her schoolgirl outfit and matching flat ballerina shoes. Her blue eyes still pierced at him from the fact that he had mocked her. She wasn't his normal choice in a female – her modest dressing told him she was uptight, her lack of a smile told him she was too serious for his matured games and her lack of interest in his looks told him she had a potential boyfriend. But she was pretty and the only person Kathryn had shown open hatred to. Of course, latter counting for more, than the predecessor -- Annette Hardgrove is exactly what he was looking for. "With you watching my back, I don't think it will happen."

She arched her brow. "How do you know I'm not some butt kissing senior who plans to rat you out?"

"Well, for starters," he said, as he stood up to approach her. "You're too beautiful to be kissing any headmaster's ass."

Annette snorted. "I guess I'm supposed to take that as a compliment."

"I think you'd like me either way."

"My God," she exclaimed in annoyance. "Are you this cocky all the time or just today?"

"Well, why don't I drive you home," he replied, taking the textbooks from her hands. He took off in the distance of his car, knowing she would follow. "You get to tell me if it's an enduring quality."

She followed in confusion, barely getting time to think it over. "Okay. Since you're so bossy about it --"

One day, he would regret meeting Annette Hardgrove --